Darkness and Light
by ladysnape575
Summary: Sequel to The Princess of Hogwarts! The senshi request to return to Hogwarts, aided by Cosmos, only to find that chaos seems to follow them wherever they go! And could their old friends from their past lives be invaluable allies? Currently being updated!
1. The Beginning of the Middle

Darkness and Light, Chapter One. This chapter has been updated as of 8/20/09

This is the sequel to my story The Princess of Hogwarts. Might want to read that first, or not :]

A little bit about this story before you read, if you please. Look up on the page and you'll see that this was started in _'_**03 **and went on until '**05**. When I wrote this, I was 12-15, and now I am 19. That said, my writing back then was deplorable. The idea was good, but my writing...bleh. That, and as I grew older I tried to make it more "funny," using methods of talking to myself pre- and post-chapter, putting in modern culture references, using random bad Japanese like most pre-teen fangirls do, and so on. Not good or serious writing at all. But because this was my second fic that I really put my heart into, I feel like I must rewrite it and make it into what I wanted it to be. That said, please do not review solely to tell me how terrible so-and-so is or how such-and-such doesn't happen because...trust me, I know. I'm workin' on it.

One by one, I will be updating the chapters. If you're reading this now, it is not fully updated, and there will be a point when you will come across one of the original, fangirly chapters. Please check back, though, because I want to get this done as quickly as possible. _If you want to be notified when I update, just PM me!_

One thing to note is, in the last story I changed the name of Princess Serenity's father from "_Derrick_" to "_Osiris_." In unedited chapters, it will still read as the former. Sorry for the confusion. Also, I added Tonks into the updated version of PoH, where in unedited chapters of this story, she isn't introduced until later.

Alright, enough of this long author's note. I hope you enjoy this not-so-awaited sequel. :3

* * *

Harry Potter was falling. He didn't know where he was falling to, how he got here, or even where he had started falling from. But whatever he was in, it was black, though he could still see his own body.

Every now and then, things streaked past him. Usually it was just shapes of light, but every now and then they took a more human form, the face usually twisted into a horrible grimace. One of the forms that fell past him, Harry noticed, looked remarkably like Cedric Diggory. Harry sighed, even though he couldn't actually hear it. He knew then that he was dreaming. Soon he knew he would hear screams of pain and agony, see dark cloaked shapes in masks float past him, and see the terrible sight of Lord Voldemort. He was used to it.

Ever since Cedric died, so did a bit of his sanity and calm. Though it had been over a year since his schoolmate died before his eyes, the dreams kept coming. For a while, when school started back, his mind was a bit clearer, but after Christmas, dreams of every sort were plaguing him nightly. Why at Christmas, he didn't know, he could barely remember what had happened last school year. Trying to think of it brought about dreams a different sort, dreams where he was dressed in his best, attending the event of the century with the most famous witches and wizards of another time, then before him they died in a flash of light.

Harry realized that he was no longer falling, but rather drifting, as his speed seemed to have slowed. He tried to look below him, where he saw a pinprick of light. As he drew closer, it grew bigger, and Harry realized that he was being drawn somewhere. As he slowed even more, he could see a cliff made of white rock and crystal, and a sea made of something that reminded him of champagne. As he entered this space, he managed to get himself at an upright angle. He finally stopped falling and was left hanging in the corner of this very bright space. Looking up, he could no longer see the black tunnel where he came from, only whiteness. He was just hanging there. And it wasn't dark anymore, either. In fact, it was very bright.

Before him were ten figures. They must have been angels, Harry thought, for they were all wearing dresses of white, had skin that seemed to shine like pearls. Their feet did not seem to really be touching the ground. Though in his mind he called them angels, only one of them had wings. None of them had halos or looked chubby like stereotypical angel drawings, an some of their hair was so wildly colored that it must have been dyed. There was a man there as well, he too was dressed in white. They all looked so strange, and yet they _were_ angels.

The only one with wings, who appeared to be much younger then the others, spoke to them in a high, cheery voice, "I'll see you in the thirtieth century!" And then she vanished before them.

Harry started to wonder why he was having this dream. Had these girls been killed by Voldemort, or maybe the cake he had eaten that day had gone bad (it had been hidden in his room for weeks, after all).

One of the other girls, a blonde with a most peculiar hairstyle, spoke. "There's just...one more thing."

"What's that?" Came a voice from something Harry saw floating nearby. Muggles might have called it a fairy, it looked like a small person with wings, an aura of red surrounding it.

"I would like to thank my friends." The blonde said in a very honest tone.

"I do not have the power to do that." The fairy-like creature said, her voice almost emotionless.

"Can't you take power from the cauldron or something? Please, just for two weeks!" Another blonde girl asked.

"That is Cosmos's decision." The fairy responded.

"Ask her, please." The first blonde requested. A bright light appeared next to them momentarily, and the person called Cosmos appeared. She looked very different from the girls Harry thought were angels, though their build and hair were similar. She had long, flowing silver hair that trailed the entire length of her body; her costume was something very odd, yet beautiful. It was mostly white, but the small ribbons and the long cape seemed to shimmer with every color of the rainbow. She did not look to be very old, But Harry could tell that she must have been at least three times as old as him, her eyes seemed to hold so much wisdom.

"Cosmos, we-" The first blond started. Cosmos nodded to confirm she knew.

"I can give you temporary bodies." She said in a very powerful, yet quiet voice. "They won't last long, but it will get you to where you want to go, although when you get there, you might undergo some temporary memory distortion."

Harry blinked suddenly, it was really more like a twitch. He didn't know why, but these angel-like people seemed a bit... he didn't know the word. He felt as if he wanted them to go where they wanted to go, because it meant he could see them again.

"I can't do this, though, if all of you don't want to do this." Cosmos said, looking above her at the swirling sky. At this statement, the girl on wings appeared again.

"I'd like to see all this." She chirped happily.

"Then, will you do me a favor while you're there?" Cosmos asked. A bright light appeared next to her, and then floating next to Cosmos was a very small girl, she must have been no older then four. Her eyes were shut as if she were sleeping, but her expression was very blank. "Take her with you. Not to the platform, but just to say goodbye. Let her live with Ikuko and Kenji. I do feel guilty for all the memory distortion they're undergoing, but if they can at least remember one of their "children" it will be easier."

"Is she...real?" Another of the girls asked.

"She will be real once she has left this place." Cosmos told them "Now, go. The Gates have been left open for you."

The ten angels stared at Cosmos for a moment, their faces full of gratitude.

"What can we ever do to repay you?" Asked a black-haired girl. Cosmos smiled a bit.

"You just said you would." She motioned to the little girl.

There was a noise like rushing water and the images before Harry's eyes went blurry. They came into focus moments later, but Harry was not back in his bedroom, nor in the cliff made of white stone. He was now in a place that had become much too familiar due to his dreams; the Riddle House. Yet it was different, it did not _feel_ like the same house Harry dreaded seeing in his unconsciousness. The broken chairs, the moldy couch, the dusty hearth rug, it was all different. They were still there, but the room looked like it must have when it was new. The window in the room wasn't boarded, but in fact cleaned and polished, and a window seat had been put beside it. A roaring fire crackled as it shed it's life and warmth into the room. But of course, there was something the same. A chair was facing the fire, and someone was sitting in it, the fire casting eerie shadows upon it. This person, Harry was relieved to see, was not Voldemort, as she (at least, Harry believed this person was a she) held herself much differently. There were people in cloaks in the room, many of them, sitting, standing, reading. Harry watched them do absolutely nothing of interest, yet was captivated by their forms. Harry was reminded of an old, proper family who sat around, keeping themselves quiet after dinner.

The woman in the chair was not doing much of anything, she seemed to just be sitting, staring into the fire. Harry moved around to see her face, they did not seem to notice he was there. Her face was dark and smooth and her eyes were a brilliant red. Her expression was vacant, as if she were dreaming.

"It's fine now." She said suddenly, her voice deep and clear. Her expression did not change. "We can leave this place."

"What is this place?" One of the smaller figures asked. "Why are we here?"

Harry recognized her voice as the small, pink haired angel from the white cliff. It soon occurred to him that these people were the same as the angels, save for the final one with white hair.

"You forgot?" Another girl asked, standing up. "We're here because..." Her voice trailed out and she sat down.

"Cosmos said we would undergo some memory distortion." The figure by the fire said.

"Cosmos...?" Another voice asked. "...oh!"

"Setsuna, did Cosmos let you retain your memories?! Do you know why we're here?"

"Somewhat." The woman in the chair said. Finally, her expression changed, a slight smile crossed her face. "I don't think she meant to alter our memories, it was just a side effect. I think I remember more clearly because of constantly being around the Time Gate."

"So why did we come to this scary place?" The small girl asked, coming to sit on the arm of the chair. "And why are we wearing these thick cloaks?"

"I don't remember _everything_." Setsuna said. "But, we're here because we have to go to Hogwarts for as long as we can."

"That's a wizarding school!" One of the girls exclaimed happily. "But...were we there before?"

"I think you have!" The small girl exclaimed. "I remember reading something about it, about the Silver Alliance."

"We went in our past lives? Impossible..."

"Like I said, I don't remember everything." Setsuna said. "We have to go to Hogwarts, and we have to keep our identities – both of them – secret." She stood up, finally, and unfastened the cloak. Harry quickly had to remember that this was a dream; this woman looked even more beautiful in the dim light. She was no longer wearing the white dress, but more casual clothes. "But there is something in the back of my head telling me that we shouldn't go."

"Why wouldn't we?" Another girl asked, removing her own cloak. The room seemed to brighten at the very presence of her golden hair and pale skin. "If that's what Cosmos wants us to do, we'll do it! And if anything goes wrong, you know I'll be there to fix it!"

"And we will be there to protect _her_." Another figure said, gesturing to the girl with the odd hairstyle. Harry was not quite sure if this person was male or female.

"I don't know." Setsuna began to pace around the room. "I do wish I could remember. Go to Hogwarts. Stay secret...under these cloaks, until we get there at least, because if we don't...our memories could be revived."

"Revived?" Someone asked. "But that's a good thing right?"

"Maybe for us, but perhaps there's someone else who should not remember us." Setsuna said. "I am sorry. That's all I know."

"Friends." The blonde sighed. "I hope we make...lots of friends."

She looked straight into Harry's eyes (or right where they were, that is, for the girls still did not see him there). In front of him, the room and the girls were gone and Harry could only see flashes of terror and destruction, screaming children, the earth being encased in darkness...Hermione's face being ripped to shreds and a giant, cackling form in front of him--

* * *

Sixteen-year-old Harry Potter woke up with a start.

He tried desperately to remember his dream before it vanished from the back of his mind. Lately, it seemed like everyone was asking him if he had been having any weird dreams, and he was getting quite tired of it.

There were angels, and there was light. But first, wasn't there darkness? Maybe. There was something like a supreme angel there, maybe even a goddess. They wanted something. And then...he was somewhere he didn't want to be, but he felt safe because of the angels. They were coming...somewhere...

Harry screwed his eyes shut, but it was no use. He could only remember little things, not anything important. Ron's snoring in the background wasn't doing much for his memory, either.

Harry's new home was at the Weasley's, something he would have in the past been elated to hear. However, after Voldemort had risen, he had been under constant protection by the secretive Order of the Phoenix. He had not left the Burrow since his arrival after his fifth year at Hogwarts, and there was always someone there keeping a close eye on him, questioning him, asking if his scar had been hurting (it had) or if he had been having dreams about Voldemort's whereabouts (he had).

Another drawback of being at the Weasley's was the very fact that he was there was confusing his girlfriend Hermione greatly. She had been asking him questions via owl for half of the summer, reporting on what she had found when she arrived to stay. She had apparently spent a great deal of money buying old tomes and reference books and Harry felt guilty by association.

"It's an ancient protective magic-" Hermione had said. "That would keep even You-Know-Who away. Your mother's love gave you an almost impenetrable defense, as long as your aunt allows you to stay and considers you family."

"Dumbledore must have had to do a lot of work on that." Harry shrugged. Hermione nodded her head slightly, agreeing without meaning to.

"But what I don't understand is why he wouldn't want you there," Hermione kept repeating over and over. "I mean, you must be a thousand times safer there then here..."

"Dumbledore's got his reasons, Hermione." Ron would usually pipe in. He was rather glad that Harry was there all summer. His Quiddich plays had never been better.

"I know, but..." The conversation would usually end, and Hermione would leave to do more research.

Harry got out of his bed and quietly slipped on some clothes, as well as one of his wizard robes – something he did like about being at the Weasleys. He made his way downstairs and was greeted with silence. Was he the first one awake? Harry was reminded of his last Christmas Break, when he and Hermione were the only ones awake and they realized their feelings for one another. He almost hoped that he would have another encounter, hearing noises from downstairs. However, when he made his way into the living room, he saw only the pink-hared Auror, Tonks, reading on the couch.

Tonks was usually the most cheery of the Aurors, usually the one Harry went to when he felt suffocated. Lately, however, she had been a bit quiet and scarce. Hermione and Ginny suggested heartbreak and Ron suggested it was just Order business, but Harry was sure he knew the truth. Tonks had told him, confidentially, that on a an undercover mission, she was almost killed by a Death Eater, by one of her relatives no less. Harry was sure that it had shook her deeply, and he truly felt sorry for her and tried to talk to her.

"Oh, hello Harry." She said less than enthusiastically, shutting her book. "I was waiting for Professor Snape to get back so I can catch up on a bit of sleep."

"You could sleep now." Harry shrugged.

"Yes, and then when he came, he'd tell me how irresponsible I'm being." Tonks sighed. "I'll wait."

"Snape doesn't usually come to the Order meetings here, does he?" Harry asked, sitting next to her on the old comfy couch.

"No, you know him." Tonks said, smiling only slightly. "He usually comes to meetings at a different location."

"The Order meets somewhere else?" Harry asked. Tonks didn't even let him ask, she shook her head.

"I'm not the secret-keeper, so I can't tell you." She said sadly. "It's nowhere you want to go, trust me."

There was a noise like a "whoosh" and what looked like a patronus shaped like a very menacing bird flew in through the floo, perched itself on the coffee table, and vanished instantly. Harry knew this was the Order's way of communicating and quickly stood up, not wanting to have to talk to his least favorite professor before term even started.

"Have a safe time in Diagon Alley, Harry." Tonks called softly. Safe. This word irritated Harry so much; no longer did people wish one another to have a fun time, but a safe one instead. As he grew older, Harry realized, the charm of Chocolate Frogs and the amazement of flying books could no longer conceal the darkness that hid in the colorful wizarding world.

* * *

Three tantrums, two near-explosions and one sob from Mrs. Weasley later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were walking the streets of Diagon Alley. They had already purchased most of their new schoolthings, now they were just wasting time, talking about nothing, happy to be out of the house. Everything seemed a bit better, now that they were out in the sunlight amongst strangers.

As they passed yet another closed down shop, Harry and Ron were engaged in a heated debate over a controversial foul that had happened during a Quiddich match Ron had seen when he was five. Hermione's happiness about being outside did not prevent her from muttering _"boys"_ once or twice during their long debate. She led the pack, walking faster then the two, when suddenly she stopped, causing the other two to run into her back.

"Okay, we'll stop talking about it!"Ron grumbled, rubbing his arm. Harry looked up and noticed that Hermione was staring at something straight ahead, looking a bit fearful.

"'Mione, what's..." Harry didn't have to ask as soon as he looked up. He knew why Hermione looked scared – for almost a second, he could have sworn that there was a Dementor walking down Diagon Alley. He realized only later that this person was much too short and much too solid to be one of the terrible guards of Azkaban prison. Yet it was an easy mistake, this person wore a full cloak in the deadest shade of black Harry had ever seen. The hood was raised, providing no hope of a glance at the face. The trio were not the only ones to notice this sight, others had stopped and stared looking terrified, and as the figure passed them, they could feel a familiar sense of dread quickly creep up their spine, making the hair at the back of their neck stand on end.

"Harry, what was that?" Ron asked in a very quiet voice.

"Let's hope it's human." Harry said, his eyes following the small, dark form.

"It's obviously someone who doesn't want to be seen." Hermione said thoughtfully. "Only, they did just the opposite, wearing something so dark in summertime."

"Death Eater, maybe?" Ron suggested. "You think I should tell dad?"

"I don't think the world is so terrible yet that Death Eaters can walk around in broad daylight." Hermione said as If she were defending something. Harry smiled slightly, Hermione was one of the few people he knew who understand why the magical world was so much more amazing and special to someone who hadn't always been around it. He knew she would never want this fantasy land to be corrupted. "Now, come on, I wanted to go by Flourish and Blott's-"

"We just bought our books!" Ron exclaimed.

"I just remembered, there was something I had reserved, I don't want to lose my deposit!" She said with equal vigor. The two boys had to run to catch up with her on her path to knowledge.

They waited outside while Hermione got her book, the Quidditch game came up quickly again. They were so into their conversation that it took both of them a second to realize there was someone in front of them, requesting to talk to them. Harry probably would not have noticed, save for the very odd, warm feeling that had begun to grow in his fingertips.

The person before them was also fully cloaked, this one in gold. However, the hood was down, and Harry saw that this figure was most definitely woman, and most possibly veela. She was beautiful; her golden hair cascaded down her back, held away from her face by a large red ribbon. Her skin was fair, and her eyes were big and shining.

"Excuse me, sorry to interrupt..." She started. Harry noticed she had a slight accent, as if English was not her first language. "Have you seen a little girl wandering around? She's about four, and has red hair, and is in a red dress."

Harry and Ron both told her that they had not, as did Hermione who exited the store shortly after. The girl looked slightly angered by this.

"Damn it, where is she?!" She muttered to herself. "Ever since she came here – mimicking me, stealing away my time with the Three Lights..."

"Excuse me, the Three Lights?" Hermione interrupted her rant. "Do you mean the international boy band who recently disbanded?"

"They didn't really disband, per say." The figure said, her cherry lips forming a smile. "I mean, they told me-"

"Wait, you know them?!" Hermione asked hurriedly, eyes wide. Harry was quite confused, was Hermione excited over a boy band? She and the girl in the cloak talked on and on for about five minutes – about what, Harry was not sure. He was, however, sure that he would be there forever until yet anther cloaked figure, this one a very angry red, appeared behind the first.

"Ahem." The figure said. This voice was also female.

"Rei..." The girl with golden hair muttered, her face full of mock-dread, before turning around and facing her companion.

"Why are you just standing here?" The other girl demanded. "Usagi found Chibi-Chibi ages ago, we were all waiting for you!"

"You didn't tell me!" The first exclaimed.

"We didn't know where the heck you were! Now come on, we're all waiting for you! And put your hood up!"

"Yes!" The first exclaimed. She cast an apologetic glance at the three before running away, following the red-cloaked figure who had already stomped off.

"What was that?" Ron asked.

"Probably with that other girl." Harry suggested, thinking of the way that the figure in black had also kept her face hidden.

"They don't talk like they're from around here." Hermione said thoughtfully, wrapping her arms around the brown paper bag she held. "I wonder if there's more."

"You seem really interested." Ron said, eyebrow raised in confusion. "And I didn't know _you_ were a Three Lights fan."

"Yeah, who were those Three Light guys?" Harry asked suddenly. Hermione looked as if she had been started and blushed a tiny bit.

"Well, you see, it's not like I _usually_ get excited over musical acts or anything..." She started, gripping the bag even tighter. "But, you know, they're a wizard band and, well, their songs just kind of call to me."

"That's what Mum and Ginny say as well!" Ron exclaimed. "I don't get why every girl is infatuated with them-"

"I am not!" Hermione squeaked, glancing up at Harry from under her bushy hair.

* * *

The next day, the Weasley clan, Harry, and Hermione were at Kings Cross, all pushing well-loaded trollies. In the corners and hiding in the shadows, Harry knew, though he could not see, that there were Order members waiting to strike if anyone should dare even sneeze in his direction.

"Who do you think will be our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Ron asked.

"I hope it's Lupin again." Harry said hopefully.

"You know it won't be." Hermione said. "If Dumbledore hadn't sent an owl to all those parents, they would have pulled even more students out."

"I do miss Professor Mynci." Ginny said glumly. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I adore Lupin, but Mynci was so cheery."

"I don't feel like I learned all that much from her." Hermione shrugged. "But she was a very good person."

Last year, the year Harry felt was his most normal, they had started the year with a first time teacher, Professor Mynci, as their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. However, that position had been something like a curse, and no one had ever stayed there for a year; something had always went wrong. Their professor had been engaged, and she went on her honeymoon over the Christmas holiday in the arctic circle, but she and her husband were killed by Death Eaters. Lupin, Harry's favorite professor, had temporarily took the position, but because it was public knowledge that he was a werewolf (the reason he had quit in the first place), many parents criticized Dumbledore's judgment greatly.

The group had reached the barrier between platforms nine and ten. One by one, they casually walked or leaned into it, disappearing on one side and reappearing on Platform 9 ¾, where the scarlet engine sat on the tracks, anxious to leave. Students and parents were everywhere, it seemed like more then normal.

Harry watched Ginny and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley walk further down the platform, but Harry had been held back by Ron, who was nodding his head vehemently towards the very back of the platform, hidden in shadows, where not three, but ten cloaked and hooded figures stood. If secrecy was what they were going for, they were truly failing, for everyone seemed to be staring at them. Their cloaked were all somewhat different and varied in color, from white, light blue, navy blue, aqua, green, purple, orange, red, pink, and black. Standing close to them was a taller man in a blazer, a young boy who looked very confused at his surroundings, and a small girl in a frilly dress with red hair who Harry assumed was Chibi-Chibi.

"Let's get closer." Harry suggested. Ron nodded but Hermione said she would rather wait safely in the train and left the two of them. They crept closer, staying behind a partition, until they could hear what they were saying.

"Shingo, make sure Chibi-Chibi doesn't run away on you." The figure in white (who had a female voice) instructed the young boy.

"All right..." Said the boy, crossing his arms.

"And help her write and read letters, too." She said.

"Okay, okay, you don't have to tell me!" He exclaimed. "Just because mom and dad are so easily brainwashed doesn't mean I am, Usagi."

"What?" They all seemed to exclaim at once. The boy pouted a bit.

"I always knew who you really were and what you have to do." Shingo said. "And. You know. Thanks."

The figure in white hesitated only slightly before hugging the young boy tightly. He slowly gave in and hugged her back.

"There's mum..." Ron muttered. The two took that as a sign to stop eavesdropping and left to rejoin Hermione.

* * *

"Goodbye, Chibi-Chibi." Usagi said, bending down to hug the small girl. When she straightened up, she stood on her toes and kissed Mamoru deeply. She did not know when she would see him again.

"I'll write every day, Mamo-chan." She said quietly. She was clearly holding back tears.

"Funny." Mamoru said. "I think I remember you saying something similar in our past lives." He smiled. The two hugged again and again before Usagi had to leave.

"I love you, Mamo-chan!"

"As do I." He waved. "Usa-ko."


	2. Deja Vu

Darkness and Light

Chapter Two, updated as of 10/14/09

Excuse the long delay, there's just some chapters that are hard to re-write :/ Enjoy!

* * *

The trio found themselves yet again looking hard for an empty compartment, or at least one with room for them. Ginny had left to sit with some of her friends, and had told them they should try the largest one in the back.

"But those weird people are there." She told them in a hushed tone. "The one in cloaks who aren't showing their faces."

"Well..." Hermione said slowly. "We need to sit somewhere."

"You just want to meet them, don't you?" Ron grumbled.

"They wouldn't be on the train to Hogwarts if they were evil or anything." Hermione said. She took Harry's hand and gently dragged him forward, Ron trailing behind.

There were only nine hooded figures in the back compartment, all talking to one another, save for the girl in black. Their faces could still not be seen clearly, not even the girl in gold they had spoken to in Diagon Alley. Hermione, being unusually brave, slid the door open and asked, "Can we sit here?"

"Of course!" The figure in pink exclaimed happily. It was a female voice, and Harry could now tell from the way that all the figures were holding themselves that they were all female as well (though one could be a man). As he sat down, Harry tried to discreetly scan them with his eyes. The pink one seemed to be as small as the black one, though she did not seem to emit the same feel of the black one. The others seemed to be in two different groups; those wearing lighter colors seemed to be slightly shorter then those wearing darker colors. There was also a basket by the girl in pink where three cats lay sleeping.

There was silence in the compartment now, for all of two minutes before Hermione smiled nervously and asked,

"So what year are you in?"

"Well, me and Hotaru are in second year," The girl in pink said happily, motioning to herself and the girl in black. "They are in seventh year," motioning towards those in darker colors, "and they're in sixth."

Harry sighed internally, of course most of them would be in his year.

"Wasn't there another one with you?" Harry asked, remembering the tallest one.

"That's Setsuna." The girl in light blue said. "She's actually a professor, so she's up front."

"Don't professors usually stay at the school ahead of time?" Ron asked.

"She's not the only one here." The girl in the light blue cloak said softly. "Because of Lord Voldemort, there are a few teachers on the train, just in case."

"How scary." The girl in pink muttered. "And by the way, can I take this off now? It's really too hot."

"We're not even close to Hogwarts yet." The tallest of the girls, the one in dark blue, said coldly. "It's not safe."

"We're on the train!" The pink girl said. "Anyone who's going to be at Hogwarts is already here, no one else has seen-"

The girl in dark blue suddenly muttered something in a different language, "_Do not speak of it before __these people._"

Harry and Ron both glanced at Hermione, hoping she might have understood what they said, but she just shrugged slightly.

"Please forgive us." The girl in the cloak of gold said in a cheery voice. "There are some people who cannot yet see our faces, and we hope that once we get to Hogwarts we won't need to be in hiding anymore. Until we get there safely, we must remain like this." She said, holding up her fully-covered arms.

"Maybe you should start doing that," Ron whispered to Harry.

The group did not talk much, not until the food trolley came and the girls in pink, white and gold rushed towards the door. The girl in pink returned to her friend in black, prodding her to eat something.

"You really need to improve your eating habits." She pouted. "That's way too less!"

The girl in black pulled something shiny out from her robes; Harry realized it was a plastic bag filled with what looked like rice molded into shapes. She passed it around their circle, some of the girls taking some and others declining politely.

"If I may ask..." Hermione asked eagerly. "That's an Eastern snack, isn't it?" Where are you from?"

"From?" The girl in white asked blankly.

"We're from Japan, if that's what you mean." The girl in green said.

"Oh, did you go to Mahora Academy, then?" Hermione chirped. "Or maybe Terasu Gakuen?"

"Um." There was an uncomfortable silence, or so it seemed to the three who didn't quite belong. In a stroke of both luck and unluck, the door slid open loudly to Draco Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. It seemed that over the summer Draco had gotten more thin and sharp, while his cronies looked more like professional thugs then ever.

"The Potty Gang's got more members now?" Draco asked, laughing slightly. He did not seem to really look at any of the other people in the cabin, save for Harry. Crabbe and Goyle, however, looked rather afraid of the other figures once they realized other people were there. "Congratulations, maybe you'll have enough to be an official club now."

"How annoying." The girl in red scoffed. "Either bored or insecure or jealous, bullying's so immature."

"What's that?" Draco growled more fiercely then Harry had ever seen. "A schoolyard bully, am I?"

"You really are." The girl in white said, crossing her arms. "You two should just agree to disagree or whatever the saying is and get over it!"

"I don't seem to recognize your lot, so that's awfully brash for a new kid." Draco said. "In the so-called real world, it's not always as easy as faking a smile and things will go back to normal."

"Ah, what does that mean?" The girl in white asked in a much less serious tone. Harry heard the girl in red let out an exasperated sigh.

"Well-" Draco took only one step forward before the air got thick. The girls in cloaks seem to tense up all at once, drawing closer to the girl in white. The one in red stood up quickly, a sleek black wand in her hand. Even though she was pointing it straight at Malfoy, her entire body still seemed to be gentle, even her wand hand, which seemed to only loosely hold the wand. When she had stood up, the hood of her cloak had fallen back, long black hair and shining purple eyes giving the figure a less intimidating nature. At least, Harry thought almost satirically, he now knew she had a face.

"Please leave." She said simply. "We're almost at school and it would be terrible to get in trouble before we're even sorted."

Something very odd seemed to happen then. Draco did not shout out a retort, nor did he scowl, not even whip out his own wand. He seemed to stare at this girl as if she was putting him in a trance of some sort. Then suddenly he seemed to convulse and he gripped his head.

"Are you okay?" The black-haired girl asked, lowering her wand immediately. She reached out to touch him, but he pulled back quickly and ran from the cabin, his lackeys following behind.

"Rei?" The girl in white called softly to her black-haired friend. "What was that?"

"Something that wasn't taken care of." The woman in aqua said quietly. "Don't talk to him again."

It was nearly dark when Harry saw movement come from the basket of cats in the corner of his eye; they stretched and mewed and turned around. He looked up from his Quidditch playbook at the girls, most of whom were sleeping (or so they appeared to be, for their faces were still covered). Hermione and the girl in light blue were reading quickly, occasionally chatting to one another, while Ron was furiously scribbling the last of his Herbology homework. The only others who seemed to be awake were the oldest of the girls, the ones in navy and aqua. They were talking softly in another language, and every now and then they seemed to be glancing at Harry.

"So, do you know about Sailor Moon, Ami?" Harry heard Hermione ask the girl in light blue. "She's in Japan, isn't she?"

"That's what the rumor is." Ami nodded. "How did you know about her?"

"Well, she's technically a mage, too, right?" Hermione asked. "But her powers are descended from the ancient Moon Kingdom? I think it's fascinating! I've always been interested in the Silver Millennium."

"Why's that?" Ami asked, looking up from her thick tome.

"Well, she's everything, isn't she?" Hermione mumbled. "A former princess and future queen, a mage, and she's essentially a muggle's idea of a superhero. She truly used her powers for good. I secretly wished I was a sailor warrior when I first heard about her."

"Yes. It does sound glamorous." Ami said. "But...I imagine it's lonely."

"Hn?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, yes." The woman in aqua said. She pulled back the hood of her cloak, revealing thick curls in the same color of her cloak and a mature face that seemed to be made of ivory. The figure next to her started to protest, but the former shrugged it off, laughing very slightly, like water babbling over pebbles. "Sailor Moon is a very noble figure indeed, but she not only had to always live up to others' expectations, but often had to sacrifice her own happiness for the safety of others. Those who were close to her often got hurt, and she slowly had to separate herself from them if they could not defend themselves. "

Harry shifted in his seat; He and Sailor Moon seemed to have a lot in common.

"Every _senshi _has his or her problems which made their duty that much more terrible." The woman in navy said. She resigned to her partners wishes and removed her hood, her boyish face showing signs of sweat from the thick cloak. "The guardian of Pluto was always needed to guard the gates of time, the guardian of Saturn was always feared and alone, the guardian of Earth always made to be naive and gullible."

"Is this Sailor Moon still, you know, alive?" Harry asked. The two stared at him for a moment.

"Sailor Moon essentially gave her life to destroy an evil much different from the evil that needs to be faced here." The girl in aqua said. "Her soul, however, will always carry on and will eventually be reborn for good in the 30th century."

"Really?!" Hermione exclaimed. "I didn't know!"

Harry had to sigh internally. If he related himself to this Sailor Moon, would he, to, have to give his life in the end just to see the demise of Voldemort? This girl apparently had magic he did not, and he knew that even if he did end his life, even if Voldemort's was ended as well, he would not be "reborn."

"Did you ever get to meet her?" Hermione asked, still very excited for knowledge.

"Once or twice." The girl in navy said, smiling. "She's very cute."

Even Ron had to look up from his homework, not sure if she was serious or not.

"By the way, I don't think we ever got your names, except for you, Hermione." The girl in aqua said politely. "I'm Michiru Kaioh, and this," she gestured to the smirking woman in navy, "Is Haruka Tenou."

"And I'm Ami Mizuno," The girl with blue hair introduced herself to Harry and Ron.

"Ron Weasely."

"Harry Potter." Just as he expected, there was a reaction, Haruka and Michiru quickly glanced at one another, as if they were speaking telepathically.

"It's nice to meet you." Ami said, smiling brightly, dispelling any foul mood.

"So..." Ron said, shutting his ratty Herbology book, "Those cloaks...are supposed to hide you from...whoever? Are there Death Eaters after you?"

"Ron..." Hermione muttered, hitting him lightly on the shoulder.

"Maybe." Ami said. "There are all sorts of people out there who would cause harm onto us, and onto you as well."

"But these cloaks are not simply for hiding our faces." Haruka said. "They do come in handy when we're in a tight spot."

"What's that?" Harry asked. It looked just like a normal, albeit garishly colored cloak.

"I think we're almost there, are we?" Michiru asked rhetorically. "Usagi, everyone, wake up now." In a very motherly fashion, she lightly shook each of the sleeping girls until they began to stir and sit upright.

"Hey, you took your hoods off when you said I couldn't!" The girl in pink moaned sleepily.

"We're close enough to Hogwarts." Ami told her. "And we can trust these people. This is Hermione, Ron, and Harry."

"Well then, I'm Chibiusa Tsukino!" She pulled off her cloak to reveal hair that looked to be made of cotton candy. "And this is my very best friend, Hotaru Tomoe." She grabbed the very pale hand of the girl in black, who shrugged off her hood. Her hair was very straight and very black, framing her pale face and blank expression.

"And you know me, Minako Aino!" The girl in gold said. "This is Rei Hino," She gestured towards the girl in red, "Makoto Kino," the tall girl in green smiled happily at her name, "And Usagi Tsukino." The girl in white dramatically pulled off her cloak with a sigh of relief. Her hair was blond and in a very peculiar style. As soon as he saw her, a pang of Deja Vu hit Harry, though he couldn't place why.

Something must have also hit Haruka, for she seemed to look up at the door as if something were there.

"What do you feel?" Michiru asked quietly.

"Stars." Haruka said. Harry did not understand. "Familiar stars."

"Familiar?" Ami asked.

"Oh." Michiru smiled. "Oh, no."

"Them?" Haruka groaned.

"Who do you mean?" Usagi asked.

"How did they get here?" Rei asked. "They weren't with us before, were they?"

"Ah, does it matter?!" Minako chirped, a blush creeping across her face.

"Even after all we've been through, you still have a crush on them?" Ami asked quietly.

"Who?!" Usagi nearly shouted. Just then the door opened and in walked three males, all tall and thin, each with a long ponytail down their backs. Hermione actually gasped out loud and both Ron and Haruka seemed to groan. Harry took a shot in the dark and assumed that these were the Three Lights.

"Hey, _Odango_!" The one in the front of the group said. "Fancy meeting you here!"

"Seiya!" Usagi smiled, leaping up to embrace the three. "Yaten! Taiki!"

"What are you doing here?" Hotaru asked. Harry noticed that when she spoke, a chill seemed to run through the room.

"The same thing you're doing here." The tallest of the three, Taiki, said.

"We've never been to a school like this." Yaten said in a playful voice. "We wanted to see what it was like with you."

"Being in the same school with Usagi will be lots of fun, yes?" Seiya laughed.

"You've already been in the same school with Usagi!" Haruka said.

"Are you sure you're not doing anything else?" Hotaru asked quietly.

"Nothing that you need to trouble yourself with, no." Seiya waved his hand back and forth.

A voice, a high, whining voice suddenly called from the corridor, "Sei-_ya_!" Harry glanced at Hermione who glanced at Ron; they all knew it was Pansy Parkinson.

"Already found some fans, good for you." Haruka said satirically.

"Um, um..." Harry heard Hermione mutter very quietly. She looked like a child trying to unsuccessfully get a teacher's attention.

"You know that there's danger here, as well." Ami told Taiki. "Is it really alright for you to be here?"

"Danger?" Taiki raised an eyebrow. "You mean Lord Voldemort?"

Ron winced and Hermione's eyes got a bit wider. Harry was more confused then before; these people were strange enough, but to be okay with saying "Voldemort?"

"We have to get back." Seiya said, gesturing down the hall with his thumb. "But stay safe, _Odango_!"

"Don't call me that!" Usagi said, pouting like a child. The three gave a dazzling smile to the cabin and left, Hermione still "um, um" -ing

"So that was them." Ron said. "I still don't see what's so special about them."

"I didn't get to..." Hermione started. It seemed she didn't know exactly what she wanted to do.

"It must be nice, eh?" Ron whispered to Harry. "Not once have they looked at your scar."

Harry nodded honestly, though it was a bit strange. Last year was so quiet compared to all of his other years at Hogwarts, would this year follow in suite? Or was this just a fluke, and was there something behind the appearance of all these strange people?

It was dark outside, and the large group clumsily put on their school robes, trying to avoid one another's arms and legs.

"Where do we go when we go when we get off?" Chibiusa asked. "Are we going to the school or somewhere else?"

"Why would we go anywhere else?" Usagi said, as if she was talking to a younger sister.

"You should ask Hagrid," Hermione said. "You should probably go on the boats, since you need to be sorted."

"I hope we're all in the same house together." Usagi mused.

"I just hope I'm in a good house." Chibiusa said.

"They're all good." Ami said, making sure that her book was securely in her bag. "It just depends on what you make of it."

As the train came to a stop, bouncing back only slightly, Harry decided not to tell the younger girl that Slytherin was not exactly a "good" house. He figured that she wouldn't be in that house anyways, though Hotaru, on the other hand...

Harry and Hermione made their way through the corridor hand in hand, following the very tall Ron who cleared a path for them. The strange girls followed them until they disembarked, they then bid the trio farewell and went to stand by the half-giant caretaker, Hagrid.

* * *

"Strange girls." Ron said when they were closer to the forest, waiting for a carriage.

"Not that strange." Hermione said. "Interesting. I haven't learned much about Eastern magic."

"Ten to one they'll all be in Gryffindor." Harry predicted, half seriously.


	3. Not a daughter, just confusion

Darkness and Light

Chapter 3

Updated as of 12/31/09

Ooh. Sorry for the long delay. Finals and work and other assorted excuses. This is one of those chapters that I can't change too much with, no matter how much I hate it...please bear with it, though! This begins the sort of fan-stuff I wish I hadn't wrote, but I did, so I'm going to see how I can transform it to make it better!

* * *

Harry watched as the very large and very strange group of newcomers trailed behind Hagrid and the first years, off to the shore where they would take an enchanted ride to the castle. Behind him, Hermione and Ron watched for the carriages.

"What do you think they want?" Ron asked.

"What?" Harry said, not really paying attention. He turned around to the two.

"There's something really off about them." He said, crossing his arms. "I just...feel something weird in my gut from them."

"You're hungry." Hermione suggested.

"Not the point," He continued. "I mean, suddenly all these transfer students are showing up? And I could swear I could hear that cat say U-as-gi's name."

"_Usagi_, Ron." Hermione corrected him. "And I don't think you should be so harsh towards them, you don't even know them!"

"You just want to know more about them!" Ron argued.

"Of course I do, they come from Japan, they have so many different types of spells and magic, I want to learn about them!" Hermione retorted, crossing her arms as well. Luckily, the carriages began showing up. Harry went ahead and got on one of the smaller ones, Hermione and Ron following suit. Their argument didn't stop once they started moving, however.

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe they're with You-Know-Who?" Ron asked. "I mean, they keep their faces hidden until they know it's us-"

"I highly doubt anyone connected to You-Know-Who could get in here!" Hermione defended.

"They did last year, didn't they?" Ron asked. Yes, Harry remembered that very clearly. The princesses from the Moon Kingdom of the past had stayed for half a year at Hogwarts for whatever reason, and the very first night of term, a few Death Eaters had snuck in to capture them. That, really, was one of the few incidents that happened the previous, lazy year.

"A fluke, I mean, they were royalty!"Hermione said. For some reason, that seemed to shut Ron up, even make him look a bit down.

"I kind of miss them. They were really pretty. I think. I don't really remember them." He sighed.

"It's not like we really talked to them much." Harry shrugged, finally able to get a word in. Hermione, however, was not finished.

"If you're going to be concerned about anything, be concerned about how Malfoy was freaking out when he saw Rei's face." She spoke. The two boys looked at her odd, was she defending Malfoy? Hermione realized her mistake and quickly added, "Not that I mind that he left, but it was kind of strange."

"Those Three Lights were more strange." Ron said. "I don't get why everyone likes them-"

"They're great international singers in the magical world!" Hermione exclaimed.

"They look like girls!" Ron yelled back.

Hermione didn't even bother thinking of a retort, she simply huffed and turned her head sharply to the side, looking at the trees surrounding them.

"Hermione," Harry said, trying to dispel the negative mood. "Just don't break up with me because of them."

Most of the remaining ride had gone by in silence, Ron's growling stomach causing the three to finally laugh and start chattering away again as they made their way into the Great Hall along with all of the other students, garbed in robes of black. The new students, Usagi and crew included, were already waiting by the head table for the sorting to begin.

After everyone had settled in, Dumbledore rose from his place at the High Table and adressed his students, arms wide open and smiling broadly.

"Another year has come!" He announced, voice clear and bright. "Welcome, to our old and new students, and to our beloved faculty! Before we sort our new students into their houses and eat what I know will be quite the meal, I would like you to welcome our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Miss Setsuna Meoh."

The students and teachers clapped as Setsuna, a dark skinned Asian woman stood up from her seat at the end of the high table next to Snape. Her hair was long and green, and her eyes were thin. She smiled and nodded before sitting down. She was still wearing the robe, though not the hood, making her much less intimidating. Harry saw the key-like staff leaning on the wall behind her.

"Now," Dumbledore began again. "I do have one more announcement. You may have noticed that we have a great number of older students with us who are new to our school. These students come from Mousetsu, a Japanese school of magic. This school...no longer exists. It was recently attacked and destroyed by the Dark Lord and his followers."

This statement sent a wave of whispers throughout the students. If they could attack one school of magic, could they attack Hogwarts?

"These students, along with Professor Meioh, have come here and I ask that you treat them with our best hospitality and to help them with whatever they need." Dumbledore said. He waited a minute for the whispers to stop before resuming. "Now then! Professor McGonagall, if you will..."

"When I call your name, please come forth," Professor McGonagall said, stepping forward. "Achor, Sarah." A tiny girl with black hair stumbled forward and sat on the ancient stool set right in the center.

"Hufflepuff!" the hat shouted almost immediately. "

Aino, Minako," The professor called. Minako walked up gracefully and put on the tattered hat.

"Why didn't they tell us?" Ron whispered as the hat sorted Minako into Hufflepuff, much to the delight of that house.

"If your school got destroyed by You-Know-Who, it wouldn't really be something you'd love to spread around, would it?" Hermione answered.

"Maybe someone close to them...was killed." Harry suggested. Behind them, Rei was sorted into Gryffindor. She took a seat next to Ron. She seemed to instantly know what the three were talking about and nodded.

"Yeah, um, sorry we didn't tell you earlier." Rei said, speaking as if she couldn't believe that Dumbledore had told them. "We weren't sure if we could."

Michiru was sorted into Ravenclaw, the boys of the raven house cheering especially loudly. Rei sighed and clapped.

"Is that why you were hiding yourself?" Harry asked. Rei didn't answer, not until after Makoto was sorted into Hufflepuff.

"It was quite the terror." Rei explained. "No one was sure why, if it was just a random act of terror to scare everyone, or if they were looking for someone, but we were told to hide ourselves until we were under the protection of Professor Dumbledore."

Seiya sat down next to Rei, he had been sorted into Gryffindor while they were talking. Taiki had been sorted into Ravenclaw and, surprisingly, Yaten into Slytherin.

"I was telling them about what Dumbledore said." Rei said.

"Oh." Seiya said. And in a language that the trio did not understand, Japanese most likely, he added, "_That lie? He could have told us ahead of time."_

"_Us? We didn't even know you were coming." _Rei said.

"_But he apparently knew you were coming or he wouldn't have made up a story like that..."Mousetsu"..."false." Very funny, that man."_ Seiya said. Rei thought about it and nodded. Had Cosmos contacted him ahead of time?

Another loud round of applause indicated that another one of the transfer students had been sorted, this time it was Ami who had been sorted into Ravenclaw.

"But, yes." Rei continued in English. "You see, we are the only remaining students."

"Oh, my!" Hermione exclaimed, clapping her hands to her mouth. "I'm so sorry."

"It's alright." Seiya added. Harry noted that his accent was a bit different then the others, his and his brothers's. It was as if neither English or Japanese was their first language.

The group sat in silence, watching the rest of the sorting. Haruka was sorted into Gryffindor (and made sure to sit on the other side of the trio, away from Seiya who it was clear she hated). Hotaru, not surprisingly, was sorted into Slytherin. Chibiusa and Usagi were very quickly put into Gryffindor. After her, there were only three more students, yet it still seemed like an eternity to Harry until the time when Dumbledore stood up once more and said, "Let the feast begin!"

The plates filled up with food and the hall erupted with talking and munching and cheers. Harry loved Mrs. Weasley's cooking, yes, but Hogwarts food would always hold a special place in his heart.

"Honestly! Hotaru in Slytherin!" Chibiusa muttered."That hat was just..." She took a bite of a lightly buttered roll and seemed to forget what she was saying.

"When was the last time we ate a real meal?" Rei asked her friends, looking lovingly at the spread.

"This food is much too salty and sweet." Haruka complained, though it did not slow her down any. Even Ron was put to shame by the amount of food Usagi had consumed.

"Um." Chibiusa said, looking up at something. "Why is he staring at you, Rei?"

The entire group turned to look, and sure enough, Harry saw Draco staring at Rei in between bites of butternut squash soup.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, what happened on the train?" Hermione asked. Rei wasn't sure what to say, her eyes darted quickly to her friends.

"I don't know, really." She said.

"He remembers you." Haruka explained shortly. This didn't make sense to anyone, not even Rei, not until her eyes went wide with realization.

"But, how-" She started. Haruka stopped her. Harry had a suspicious that his and his friends' presence was what did it. Rei obliged, however, and their dinner was relatively quiet until they left for Gryffindor Tower.

* * *

Even in this strange castle, Rei's powers of divination were stronger then ever. Something...she sensed something wrong. As soon as everyone was asleep, she threw on her red cloak and slowly crept through the castle, wand at the ready. There was a negative, yet familiar feeling somewhere in the halls. Hopefully, she thought to herself, she was wrong. But after descending two floors, she heard a shuffling of feet that nearly spooked her half to death. She concealed herself behind a statue only to hear a drawling voice, "Really?" It was Draco. Rei came out from her hiding and saw the blonde boy standing casually in corridor. He did not flinch at her fact this time. In face, his face, illuminated by the moon pouring through the window, was quite blank.

"Um, about earlier-" Rei said, not quite sure to say to this boy.

"Why did you come back?" Draco asked her suddenly, staring at her hard.

"Why did...what?" Rei asked. Did this boy know that they had been there before? Did he know more then she remembered?

"You're in danger!" He hissed urgently.

"What are you talking about?!" Rei exclaimed. "I don't know who you are!"

This seemed to set him off course a bit. He looked her over once more. "I didn't either until I saw your eyes. Then I remembered everything."

"Well, great!" Rei said, somewhat sarcastically. "We don't remember anything, only that we were here in our past lives."

"You...you really don't understand why you're in danger then." The boy said. He looked away from her, almost...ashamed? "I forgot everything until now, and...I forgot everything that I achieved for myself.I was so close to escaping that life..."

"What's...?" Rei asked. This boy was very strange indeed, he yelled at Harry as if they were mortal enemies but talked to her like a gentle bird.

"I'm really sorry, okay?" Draco said, not facing her. "I didn't know that it was you. I would have never done it."

"What did you do?" Rei asked, hoping that this boy who seemed so sad was not connected to the terrible feeling that still grew strong inside her heart. She looked at Draco, who slowly turned to face her. His eyes were a cold steel, a cold steel which flared up for only a moment before--

She didn't even know what happened, only that his lips were suddenly on hers. She didn't know if she should pull away, but this kiss seemed almost desperate, Rei was afraid to stop, she felt like if she did, the boy might disappear. Yet it was over as soon as she started, he pulled back quickly.

"We never got to kiss before." He explained. Rei cocked her head.

"What sort of relationship did we have when you knew me?" Rei asked. She wouldn't mind so much if this boy was her boyfriend, though she imagined they would fight quite a bit. Draco smiled at her question, only for a moment before his face returned to the same neutral state.

"You have to go." He told her. "And, I'm really sorry."

Before Rei could snap and yell at him, what exactly was he sorry for? The feeling inside her grew so suddenly she almost threw up from the darkness it brought her. Her eyes grew dark for a second and she stumbled back. She could swear that she felt him behind her, holding her up, but when she turned, he was gone. But she did know to go up. Up towards Gryffindor tower.

* * *

Wrapped snugly in the blanket her mother had made for her when she was younger, Hermione tried desperatly to sleep. There was no way she would be tired during her first classes. There was just no way! Every so often she would drift off, only to jerk herself back to reality. Why wouldn't her body let her sleep?

Suddenly there was a swooping noise, much like the wings of an owl magnified tenfold. Hermione heard a scraping on rock and the sound of covers moving rapidly, and finally, the last assurance that she was not dreaming, Lavender exclaimed, "Monster!"

Hermione's eyes shot open and she saw what appeared to be a hybrid between a woman in a black catsuit and a giant butterfly standing on the ledge of the window over Lavender's bed, staring at Rei who had just rushed in from somewhere. The girl shrieked again and ran out of the room, Parvati following suit. Hermione jumped up as well but the woman flew over to the door and struck her backwards.

"Hermione!" Usagi exclaimed. She jumped out of her bed and joined Rei.

"Hey!" Chibiusa yelled from the other side of the door. She burst in, causing the strange creature to fall forward onto Hermione. Hermione's mind froze, she didn't know what to do, she didn't even have her wand in her nightclothes. The butterfly woman drew a hand with half-foot long claws into the air, ready to strike at Hermione;s throat-

"Oh no you don't!" Haruka shouted, entering suddenly and throwing her body, elbow-first, at the creature, who flew back with the impact.

"I don't know if I can..." Usagi said suddenly, looking at the small item in her hand.

"You can! You have to!" Chibiusa shouted. She herself raised a small item into the air.

"Believe in yourself, Usagi!" Haruka exclaimed. Hermione stared at the temporary immobile beast, why were these girls not running? Suddenly, the girls raised their items to the air and shouted to the heavens,

"Moon Eternal..."

"Mars Crystal Power..."

"Uranus Crystal Power..."

"Chibi Moon Eternal..."

"Make up!"

There was a flash that happened in an instant, and once it subsided, Hermione saw that Usagi had transformed...into the very person she idolized, Sailor Moon!

"You!" Usagi, no, Sailor Moon addressed the creature who had found its legs again. "You attacked us right when we were going to sleep! On behalf of girls needing their beauty sleep, we...wait..."

"Sailor Moon, there's no time to rethink this-" Rei, also in similar uniform, growled.

"No, this is a youma!" Sailor Moon exclaimed. "You're Papillon!"

"The youma that you and Sailor Venus fought?" Rei exclaimed.

"And healed!" Sailor Moon cried.

"This is a monster you fought previously?" Haruka, in a sailor uniform of blue, asked. Sailor Moon did not have time to answer, as the creature charged at them, its arm a sharp blade. The girls jumped out of the way, the creature's razor-sharp appendage lodging itself in a bed.

"Maybe I'm wrong." Sailor Moon said. "Anyway, I'm Sailor Moon-"

"Sailor Mars!" Rei introduced herself.

"Sailor Uranus," Haruka said gruffly,

"And Sailor Chibi Moon!" Chibiusa said.

"...and we will punish you!" Sailor Moon finished as Papillon stood up. The creature either did not understand or care what the four girls had to say, as she caged recklessly at them again, right at Hermione. She locked her eyes on the paralyzed girl's and lunged forward, her sythe-like arm burying itself in the very top of Hermione's shoulder. He young girl screamed and everything before her went black, though she could feel everything. It was as if her very energy was being depeleated at a rapid rate. At this rate, even with such a small wound, she could very well die within minutes.

Hermione felt hot tears on her face, the only thing she could feel that wasn't numb or painful. She could hear voices, Sailor Moon's, maybe, but they were distant. It this what they meant when they said that the people close to Sailor Moon got hurt? At least...at least she got to meet her once.

"Get up."

"Who..." Hermione couldn't move her mouth, but the voice was in her head anyways.

"Get up. You have to save your new friends."

"I can't move." Hermione said. Thought.

"It's not real."

"What?"

"You're fine if you think you're fine." The voice in her head said. "And. You. Are."

"But why me?"

"Because the Moon and Mercury are aligned tonight."

"So?"

"Open your eyes."

Hermione gathered the strength to open her eyes to find white moonlight pouring over her body...and as her vision cleared, the youma now on the other side of the room being thoroughly pummeled by Sailor Uranus, she could see it out the window! Mercury and the moon aligned! But this wasn't right, something was happening. A small light was creating itself in front of Mercury...then a beam hit Hermione in the chest, a sort of blue-ness surrounding her like ribbons.

"No..." Sailor Moon said, astounded, as she turned away to look at Hermione.

"It can't be! Rei said. "Not here, not in this place..."

It was like ice surrounded her for a moment, and in that moment, Hermione could see what she thought was herself...She was wearing a blue outfit quite like the others yet her bow was shorter and her crystal was not in the shape of a heart. Her hair seemed less bushy, but tinted a very odd color of blue.

As the ice dispelled and she felt all of her strength returned, Hermione's mouth opened and the words slipped out, "Sailor Chibi Mercury."

"You can't be!" Uranus exclaimed. She was then hit backwards by Papillon, who once again came towards Hermione. She grabbed her wand from the bedside table and watched as it was encased inside of a decorative pen with the symbol of Mercury. She waved it at the youma and said a spell that she didn't even know, "_Gelidus Orbis!_" A ribbon of ice jumped from her wand and encircled the creature, binding it and causing it some sort of pain.

"Silver Moon! Crystal Power Kiss!" Sailor Moon exclaimed, holding her white tier in front of her. There was a small eruption of light, and then Papillon was gone.

"This is..." Sailor Uranus spoke after a moment of silence. "We need to tell Dumbledore."

"Are you guys okay?" A voice shouted. Seiya ran in, followed shortly by Professor Meioh. They both stared at Hermione and her odd costume. They could see right through her, they knew who she was.

"So, wait..." Chibiusa asked. "Sailor...Chibi Mercury?"


	4. What's our connection?

Darkness and Light

Chapter 4

Updated as of 1/1/10. A new decade!

This chapter got a major facelift. If you read it before, you remember that absolutely nothing happened. Now, there be plot XD Enjoy!

* * *

It took her a moment before the rush of what had happened wore off, but soon enough, with six pairs of eyes staring at her, Hermione began to panic. What had just happened? Why had she suddenly transformed into a sailor uniform like the winged warrior in front of her - a winged warrior that she was told not twelve hours ago had been destroyed? And her wand, her precious wand, was now encased in a blue and pink type of hard plastic like some sort of toy, how would she ever use it again? She felt faint just thinking about it and stumbled backwards onto her bed.

"Careful," Seiya said gently, grabbing her arms so she didn't fall back any further. What with all the confusion, it took Hermione a full ten seconds to realize she had been touched by one of the Three Lights.

"My." Setsuna said casually, sitting next to the young girl and rubbing her back in a very motherly fashion. "This is a surprise."

"What am I?" Hermione finally was able to ask. "And, and you?" She looked up at Sailor Moon, who was not only a foot away from her face, on her knees so that she was on the same level with Hermione. "She, she said you were dead!"

"In a way, we are." Sailor Mars said. "Our bodies were destroyed, but our souls were about to be put to rest for a very long time until we remembered that we had to come back here."

"Come back?" Hermione asked. Something inside her brain clicked, putting together information she had read in years past. "Wait, you were here last year! You're really the princesses, aren't you?"

"In our past lives," Sailor Moon said. "In this lifetime, none of us remembered the events that happened, but when we were destroyed, it was like all of the memories from this life and the one before came flooding back, and we remembered that we came here."

"But, you're dead." Hermione said. "How could you be here if you're dead? There's no sort of magic that could bring back-"

"Our bodies may have decayed," Setsuna said, her red eyes fixed out the open window, "But out star seeds, our very essence, does not. It is reborn, over and over, until it is passed on, and then finally we will die."

"Then..." Hermione said, trying to make sure she kept this story straight. "Why did you come back?"

"That's the thing..." Chibi Moon said sheepishly. "When we were given these new bodies and sent from somewhere so distant, most of our memory was lost. All we know is that we had to come."

"Hang on," Sailor Moon said suddenly, glancing over at the pink-hared girl. "You weren't actually given a new body, were you? How could you forget-"

"This isn't the time for that." Setsuna interrupted. "What we need to make sure of now is that this doesn't get out. The fact that we are who we are, that this even happened (and I've done a little work on the stairs so that we are not interrupted here until we get this straightened out) and that Hermione somehow inherited our power."

"And that somehow, this youma was reborn." Sailor Uranus said.

"Please tell me what happened to me," Hermione insisted.

"Ah, forgive us," Seiya said. Hermione glanced at the person beside her, he was a man, wasn't he? Yet he was with them, these very feminine girls, did he too transform into a short-skirted warrior?

"You said Sailor Chibi Mercury!" Chibi Moon exclaimed.

"Chibi is Japanese for small," Setsuna added at the now-blue-haired girl's confusion.

"I'm Sailor Moon's daughter, so does this mean your Sailor Mercury's daughter?"

"Ami's?!" Sailor Moon exclaimed. "But she's British! Not a bit of Japanese in her!"

"Perhaps the fact that Sailor Chibi Moon happens to have inherited your power in the future is only a coincidence." Setsuna suggested knowingly. "It could be assumed that power does not pass down through birth except in the lunar line. The power might very well be given at will."

"That's a thought." Sailor Mars nodded. "But she and Ami haven't spoken since the train ride, I think we'd know if she gave up her powers."

"And I know that I came from the future!" Chibi Moon said. "I think she would know, too."

Silence inhabited the room, but inside Hermione's head there were a still a million questions that just wouldn't escape through her lips. Honestly, she just wanted to get out of this ridiculous outfit (on them it looked great but on her she was very aware of how short the skirt was) and go back to bed so that she would wake up in the morning with her wand back to normal and ready to aide her in the first classes of the term.

As if she had read Hermione's mind, Setsuna stood up and said, "I think right now we just need to get this room back to normal and let the poor girl get some rest. We can meet up with Dumbledore in the morning and see what he knows."

"Right then..." Sailor Moon said, looking at the damage they had caused. "Um. What's the spell?"

"You're absolutely worthless as a witch." Sailor Mars muttered.

"We're here to _learn_, Rei!" The blonde exclaimed. "Do you know the spells to fix broken furniture?"

"Of course I do!" Sailor Mars said defiantly. "But, um, I'm not going to show you!"

Hermione, of course, knew several spells that could have the room looking right in a moment, but her wand...it worked with the one spell that came to her lips, but would it work for normal spells?

"Oh, did your wand turn into that?" Setsuna asked. "What was your attack?"

"My attack?" Hermione repeated. "Um, I think it was _Gelidus Orbis_."

"Hmm, Latin. Just like a normal mage's spell." Setsuna nodded. "Strange. Must look into it. Anyways, just imagine yourself back in your normal clothing, and you and your wand should return to normal. Hermione nodded and did so, and with a flash she was back in her nightclothes, holding her thin, wooden wand in hand. This tiny thing made Hermione smile, she squeezed it tight and waved it happily towards the mess, the beds and carpets and clothing and trunks going back to where they had been.

"Hermione, I'm sure you have assumed that you can tell no one this." Setsuna said as the other girls in sailor uniforms transformed back into their nightclothes. "Not even Harry Potter."

"I won't." Hermione nodded. A pang of guilt struck her heart, would she really withhold this information from her boyfriend and best friend?

* * *

Harry woke up the next morning, his eyes sore and tired still. He did not sleep very well last night for some reason, and Seiya jumping out of his bed loudly in the middle of the night only woke him up further. Harry wasn't quite sure why he had so much trouble going to sleep, there was something on his mind, though he wasn't sure just what. Harry tried to sleep in as long as possible, but after even Ron left the dorm, Harry knew it was time to get dressed and head down to at least get one bite of breakfast. He knew that with his luck, his first class could very well be with the bitter Professor Snape. Harry sighed and began to disrobe, but he then heard a scratch on the door and went to open it. Diana, Chibiusa's tiny, gray kitten, was sitting by the door patiently and let out a soft _mew_ when he opened the door.

"You should go back. I don't want her to think you're lost." Harry told the cat, as if she knew what Harry was saying. But Diana walked in and jumped on his bed, turned around once, and settled herself comfortably. Harry sighed, "All right. Just don't blame me if you have to use your litter box." Harry finished getting dressed and sprinted down the many flights of stairs that led to the Great Hall.

When he got there, he saw that, predictably, almost everyone had left for their first classes. But Hermione and Ron still sat there, patiently, even though Harry could tell she was very anxious about leaving. Harry smiled, he was indeed glad that he had people like this in his life.

"Where were you?!" Hermione nearly shrieked, shoving an already made plate under his nose. Harry gladly took a huge bite to save himself from having to answer.

"You can't blame him." Ron shrugged. "I mean, were you having a party last night or something? We could hear the noise all the way in the boy's dorms!"

"Well..." Hermione started. She seemed to like Harry's method of escape and stole a large strawberry from one of the plates in into her mouth, muttering something incoherently. As soon as she swallowed, she quickly handed Harry a schedule. "McGonagall asked me to give it to you. Guess what we have first."

Sure enough, the sixth-year N.E.W.T level potions class was top on the list, and because it was such an advanced-level class, it was shared by all houses. Harry considered for a brief moment that maybe he did not want to be an Auror, and on which case, he could drop Snape's class once and for all. The brief moment passed, however; he hadn't expected to pass the Potions section of the O. and yet he did. He could continue on and at least try to learn as much as he could, even if it meant being constantly put down by the professor and the Slytherin side of the room.

"You've had enough!" Hermione suddenly decided, shooting up from the long bench. "Let's go!" She took off, leaving the two boys behind. Harry looked at his plate, the eggs and bread before him no longer looked too appetizing. He shared a look with Ron and shrugged, and then the two set off in Hermione's hot tracks.

The class was much smaller now, yet Neville was still there, somehow, along with Draco, who did not look very well. Usagi was in the class, along with all of the Kou brothers, Ami, and Rei, who were looking this way and that at all of the bottles. Were Japanese potions classes different, or had they never even been to one?

Professor Snape stood at the front of the classroom, lecturing them all for about half an hour about the amount of work and dedication they would need to put into the class. Anytime the sallow-skinned man brought up words such as "failure," and "lacking," he made sure to set his eyes on Harry. The raven-haired boy made sure to keep his eyes fixed on the table in front of him, studying the wood pattern and trying to remember what it was he was trying to remember last night.

Eventually he had stopped talking and began swishing his wand this way and that, writing instructions for the potion on the board. Harry didn't even hear what potion it was, but followed Hermione and Ron to the advanced supply cabinet, taking everything that she did. Behind him, in the mass of students waiting for vials and jars, he heard Usagi whimper, "I didn't understand any of that! He phrased everything so strangely!"

"I'll help you out," Ami whispered back.

"Because this is a N.E.W.T level class," Professor Snape said, "You must also learn how to be able to handle unfamiliar situations when brewing your potions, and for that reason, I must ask that you all partner with someone you have never been with, and that includes _you_." He added the last part to the transfer students, who all froze for a second.

"Oh no." Usagi muttered. "I'm going to fail."

Harry gathered all of the ingredients and turned around, nearly hitting Rei in the face.

"Sorry." She apologized, smiling. "Do you want to be partners?"

"Sure," Harry nodded. He looked at where he once sat, Hermione was sitting next to Taiki and Ronw was simply looking disdainfully back at Harry. Harry moved to where Rei was sitting before and started moving his things over.

It seemed like Rei didn't know much about potions at all, but she caught on quickly. The two began working together easily, chatting quietly.

"So do you all know English?" Harry asked her as he added in dried grasshopper innards.

"Not that much, no." Rei said as she chopped something squishy up. "All magical schools have a charm that makes it very easy to understand and speak the native language, though the accents are hard to understand, as are some phrases."

"I see." Harry nodded.

"So, you know that Draco, right?" Rei asked suddenly, much quieter. Harry almost laughed.

"Unfortunately." He shrugged. "He's a stupid git, and he's more then likely a Death Eater by now."

"Death Eater." Rei repeated. "I, um, need to talk about him to someone. Who is head of Slytherin house?"

"Well, Snape is." Harry said. "But I don't think-"

"Snape it is." Rei nodded. Harry was about to talk her out of it, but Snape came up to their cauldron at that moment. There was nothing he could find wrong with their potion, so he instead turned his nose up and turned away.

"Um, professor," Rei spoke up. Snape froze, as if he wasn't sure if she really had called for him, then turned around slowly. "Can I ask you something after class?"

The man glared at her, a look that he usually gave Harry, but he soon nodded, not verbally agreeing but nodding nonetheless. He turned back once more, his robes swishing elegantly as he made his way to the front of the class and into the door to the right that Harry thought led to his office, not even bothering to check the other potions.

* * *

After class, Rei shooed her friends away, saying that it was something she had to do and would discuss with them later.

"Will you be okay?" Usagi asked. "I really, really don't like that guy."

"It'll help us figure out what went on last night." Rei assured them, waiting for the last of the students to leave.

"Rei," Ami said very quietly, "Last night, I saw him staring at your table, at Usagi in particular, as if he wanted to throttle her!"

"T-throttle?" Usagi repeated, touching her neck.

"I'll be fine." Rei said yet again. "Go." They complied and left along with two Hufflepuffs who walked through the door, hand in hand. Rei took a confident inhale before approaching Professor Snape, who was shuffling papers on his desk. Before she could speak he addressed her.

"Come." He said simply. He led her through the same door on the right that he had gone through before. It was not an office, however, but rather a sitting room of sorts, decorated in greens, blacks, and silvers, and embellished with a dark cherry redwood. Rei realized she was in Snape's private rooms. There was a door close to them that probably led to the main corridor or to his office. Further right, she could see many bookshelves, and then another door which she assumed led to his bedroom. The door behind her and the one close to her locked shut as Snape waved his wand. Rei suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

"Um, sir, I need to talk to you about Draco Malfoy." Rei spoke up. The black-haired man looked at one of his bookshelves for a moment before turning around quickly to the young girl. He looked livid.

"Why did you come back?!" He yelled at her. This definitely through her off, he could connect the Rei of now with the Rei of their past life as well? Setsuna said the cloaks were supposed to shield them from people remembering, were they supposed to wear them at all times? How many other people remembered?

"I'm sorry?" Rei asked, not quite sure what to say. "You remember us?"

"You should have known that it wasn't safe for you here, that everything would be thrown off the second you set foot in here-" He began to rant. Rei wasn't sure if he was taking about all of the senshi or her specifically, but either way, her defiant streak was not working at the moment, and Rei only wanted to get faraway from this man and curl into a ball.

"Tell me what you're talking about!" Rei exclaimed desperately. "We came for a reason, but when we came here, the transfer erased most of our memories!"

"Isn't that convenient." Snape snarled. He went over to a drink cart next to one of the black couches and began to fix himself a drink.

"You know us, though." Rei said, following him to the other side of the room. "You, and Draco-"

"Draco remembers?" Snape asked, nearly spilling whatever beverage he was making.

"He remembers me, I don't know." Rei said. "But you both said it's not safe for us, what's wrong with this place that makes it so unsafe?"

The man who Harry had told her, in whispered tones of course, was a vile and cruel man who could betray even Dumbledore at any second, sighed and handed the raven haired girl a clear glass that had also come from the cart. She did not drink, it could be poison, even alcohol would be bad.

"Sparkling water." He supplied, sitting down on one of the couches, and waving a hand for her to sit n the one opposite of him. He did not sound so harsh anymore.

"Oh. Um. Thanks." Rei said, sitting down on the leather couch. She took a sip, slowly, until she realized it really was just sparking water.

"What did Draco tell you?" He asked her, taking a sip of the dark drink in his own glass.

"He said he forgot me until he saw me," Rei recalled. "He kept apologizing for something, because he said he didn't know it was me. And he was almost blaming me for being there, because he said something like...he lost everything he fought for. It was strange."

"There was an attack on the school last night, was there not?" Snape asked. Rei nodded. "Professor Meioh told me that you faced something in your own bedroom. Something that you have faced before and something that was eliminated before."

"Yeah, it was a creature that we fought years ago." Rei nodded. Suddenly, something in her brain clicked. "Did Draco let that thing inside?!"

"Yes, but not on his own orders." Snape said.

"Is he a Death Eater?" Rei asked, remembering what Harry had muttered about the blonde boy. Snape sighed.

"You forgot everything?"

"We forgot what we did here in our past lives." Rei told him. "We forgot why we came in the first place. Only that we can't let people remember that we were here. Only we did, you and Draco, and no doubt Dumbledore-"

"Do not include myself and Professor Dumbledore in your tally, for we never "forgot" you were here." He told her. "As for Draco, last year, he and your past self formed a close bond over tragedy."

"A close bond." Rei nodded. The boy was handsome, she could see why she would like him.

"Last year, things were different because you were here." Snape explained. Rei listened very intently. "The Dark Lord in his anger and frustration, began "marking" students, for whatever reason. Draco was one of those students. Now, his father and mother used to be in high ranks with The Dark Lord, but those days were spent, and he chose Draco as his plaything as punishment. Draco, before, probably wanted to join, but after seeing what his father was like and how cruel the Dark Lord is, he was scared and filled with anger. He joined ranks with you and your companions, even fighting his own father in battle."

Rei nodded, eager for more of this story from her past. Maybe if she could remember enough, everything would be clear.

"But you and the others were not supposed to be here. Voldemort threw off the balance of time. After the final battle of the Silver Millennium, when you all were dead upon the moon, things in this time were normal, but the memory of almost everyone was modified so that it was like you only stayed for a brief moment and kept to yourselves. Draco now found himself alone, Dark Mark on his arm, and nothing to fight with so he did the only thing he could do and accepted his status proudly."

"So when he was saying he lost everything..." Rei started. "He meant, he lost that will to fight against the Dark Lord?"

"And his father, yes." Snape nodded. "I can't imagine how it was that out of all the students, he was the one to have his memory returned to him."

Rei stared at the floor, not quite sure what to think. The entire ordeal made her head feel stuffy and clogged. She did, however, feel so sorry for Draco. Would he try to get out of the dangerous society once more? She would help him, if he would let her. "But you remember everything." Rei said. "Professor, why is it not safe? Why are you and Draco so upset that we came?"

"Because the Dark Lord is very fond of new toys." Snape said, an eyebrow raised. "Last year he wanted you dead, the fact that you are no longer considered royalty but warriors will make the game even more fun for him. He'll want to take advantage of your powers, use it against the light, and he'll find it easy to get into the castle and harm everyone here."

"But how will he know that we're here?" Rei asked. "You didn't know, and you're a teacher. We didn't even contact Dumbledore..." She stopped right there and realized that Setsuna must have gone to the headmaster, or else she wouldn't be there. "But, Dumbledore is one of the most, if not the sole most powerful wizard alive, isn't he?"

"He is also a mortal." Snape sighed, setting his empty glass on the table that separated them.

"But, sir, there's no way he could realize we're here!" Rei insisted. "I mean, technically, we're all dead! After this, our souls will sleep until the 30th century-"

"Yes, I _know_ that." Snape said in a condescending tone. "And now that the Dark Lord's creature did not serve whatever purpose it was made for, he will know as well."

"What was its purpose?" Rei asked. This man before her was hated by almost the entire school, yet somehow he knew more about their situation then even they did.

"I'm not sure." He sighed. "A general terror, probably. Proving that he could get an Inferi into the school."

"Inferi?" Rei repeated. She knew the term very well, it was an ancient, rumored lore that one could use the body of the dead as a puppet of sorts. She had heard ghost stories of it from her grandfather when she was younger. "But that creature there last night..."

"It is indeed odd that something from your past that had been destroyed was anew once more, yes." Snape said. He looked behind her at the empty fireplace and the clock that rested on the mantle. "As it is, I have no doubt that the Dark Lord will be summoning his followers very soon. I'll be able to know more about the incident."

"His followers..." Rei repeated. Snape...was a Death Eater? In the short time before the term started, Setsuna had filled them in on a few things that they had forgotten about this world, most importantly, Lord Voldemort and his followers, and the threat they presented. For the past few minutes Rei had let her guard down, assuming the man was just not fit for teaching or perhaps he had a bad day and that caused his harsh demeanor, but now she felt very vulnerable. There was no way a Death Eater would give her this information and let her escape. She shot up and drew her thin wand from her robes, pointing it at the man before her. Snape did not move, he did not even flinch.

"Miss Hino, pointing one's wand at a teacher is grounds for a week's detention at the least." He said calmly, his black eyes locking with her purple eyes. "Do you not think that Professor Dumbledore knows of my situation?"

Rei almost blushed, embarrassed. She hadn't thought of Dumbledore at all. Setsuna had told them he was immensely powerful, but never told them exactly how or how he had gotten to be so. Rei looked before her at Snape, and she felt very very silly. She sat down slowly, muttering a very quiet, "Sorry." She put her hear in one of her hands. This...trip or mission or whatever it was, was it worth it? They remembered nothing of the magical world, they were complete outsiders, trying to fix problems they didn't understand. They didn't even remember why they came! How utterly pointless! She would kill Usagi for even suggesting it!

"I think it would be best if you return to your house now or onto your next class." Snape said, his voice even more devoid of emotion then it had been. Rei nodded and stuck her wand back into her robe pocket. She did not stand, though. She didn't know why, but she just really needed to tell someone how she felt. As cruel as this man could be, she felt an odd connection to him.

"It's just kind of hard," She said, not looking up from her knees to see if he was glaring at her or laughing at her in some way. "We came here for a reason, but we can't remember. We know we were here, but we didn't even know who Voldemort was until someone told us. It's little more then frustrating. And now we learn that because we came, everyone here is in danger. Our faults. Snape sighed, Rei imagined that hearing her inner thoughts was probably not bringing his a lot of joy. Rei nodded once more, still not looking at him, and then stood up. "Thank you for what you've told me." She said as she walked back to the door.

"If you put those supposed legendary powers to use, no one will blame you." Snape said as Rei tried the doorknob, only to find that it was still locked.

"Um, thank you, sir." Rei said. This man was nowhere as terrible as Harry had made him out to be. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, last year, what sort of connection did you have to us? If you remember everything, you must have really been involved, right?"

Snape looked at the raven haired girl for a moment, as if he was asking her if she really wanted any more from him then he had already given. "Goodbye, Miss Hino." Snape said, pulling out his own wand and flicking it at the doorknob. It clicked, and Rei quickly left out into the dungeon corridor, shutting it behind her as quietly as possible.

Snape hadn't told her all that much, but what he had told her made her feel both reassured and useless at the same time. The girl quickly pulled out her schedule from one of her pockets and saw that, luckily, she had a free period for an hour right after potions, so she hadn't missed anything. Next was Transfiguration, and Rei knew that, without her friends or anyone else for that matter, she would no doubt get lost. She set off in search of the classroom, hoping to find it before class started.

* * *

Usagi swung her thin legs back and forth, her right hand twirling her wand around like a baton and her left supporting her head. Where was Rei? Almost an hour had passed since she had told them that she was going to talk to the terrifying professor about something, and still, so close to the beginning of their next class, she hadn't shown up. As much as Rei got on her nerves, she was getting kind of worried. Next to her, Minako also looked worried, her fingers tapping on the old wooden desk. She wasn't being as chatty as normal, a sure sign that something was on her mind. Behind her, all of her group that were in sixth year sat, not very chatty either. Those who were in potions filled Makoto and Minako in.

Finally, Usagi saw Rei sprint in through the door at the back of the room and seat herself next to Makoto. She did not look hurt, but she did not look pleased, either.

"Were you talking with Snape the whole time?!" Usagi exclaimed. She realized how loud she was being and giggled slightly with embarrassment.

"Keep it down, idiot." Rei mumbled, quickly taking out her book and her wand. "And yes."

"He's so creepy!" Usagi said. To Minako and Makoto, she said, "You're really lucky that you're not taking Potions. I feel like he could hex me at any moment!"

"Actually, he's not that bad." Rei shrugged. "And he remembers everything from last year, he knows a lot about us!"

"That's great!" Minako said happily. "Isn't it?"

"Hey, I'm in his house and even I don't like the guy," Yaten chimed in. "He looked at me so strangely, like..." The silver haired teen wrinkled his nose at the thought of it.

"Maybe if he knows about us, he knows about you." Ami suggested. "He knows that, you know...you're really..."

"And he's fallen madly in love!" Minako laughed. Yaten looked as if he wanted to throw up.

"Rumor in the Ravenclaw dorms is that he's secretly a Death Eater." Taiki said quietly. "You know, one of You-Know-Who's minions."

"Well..." Rei started. Professor McGonagall came in just then and the group quickly turned to the front. They spent the first half of the class taking notes, and afterwards, they had to transfigure a christmas cracker into a small mammal of some sorts, and they were encouraged to do so silently. Not surprisingly, Ami and Taiki, along with Hermione, aced it easily. The other senshi seemed to master the wordless part well enough, but the actual transfiguring not so well. The gray-haired woman looked down at Usagi's final attempt which was walking back and forth on the table. It had the body of a kitten, but the head looked like the cat had just undergone surgery and had a protective cone on it's head. If one looked inside the head, though, there was just a mass of metallic paper. Every time the kitten mewed, a bit of confetti came out.

"Please practice this for homework, Miss Tsukino." McGonagall sighed. "I would have thought the professors at Mousetsu would have been much further ahead then this..."

"I'm sorry..." Usagi muttered. She tried to return the kitten hybrid to its previous state, but only succeeded in turning it's tail back into the shiny paper.

"You know last year, the princess from the Moon Kingdom was able to complete such an easy task with no formal training. It's a shame, you look just like her..." Professor McGonagall shook her head and walked off to the next table.

"If you could do this in your past life, you should be able to do it now!" Minako said, trying to be encouraging.

"It doesn't matter anyways..." The blonde sighed. She waved her wand a few times more, and eventually it turned back into a pink christmas cracker, though it seemed to twitch every now and then. "After this what do we have?"

"Umm..." Minako pulled her schedule from her bag. She frowned at the words before her. "All is says is _Quidditch Pitch_."

"That's not right..." Usagi pulled her own schedule out. Sure enough, written in McGonagall's neat handwriting, was _Quidditch Pitch. _Usagi turned around and quietly asked her companions what it was that they had next. Every one of them said the very same thing. Ami waited for McGonagall to dismiss the class before she raised her hand.

"Excuse me Professor," The blue-haired girl called politely. The older woman came up to them, more willing to talk to Ami, who had done above and beyond that lesson's expectations. "What exactly is Quidditch Pitch?"

"Professor Dumbledore asked me to write that, I believe he is providing you with a supplementary lesson of sorts." She explained. "If you leave out of the main doors, you'll see the pitch to the left of the castle."

"Thank you," Ami nodded. The group finally got up ad left the room, making the trek to the pitch.

"Supplementary lessons will be nice." Makoto said. "I feel so lost!"

"You think that Dumbledore himself will teach us?" Rei asked. "Maybe we can ask about what went on last night."

"Right, what did Snape say?" Ami asked. Before Rei could answer, the group was joined by Haruka and Michiru, as well as Chibiusa and Hotaru.

"Are you all going to the Quidditch pitch, too?" Michiru asked. It seemed like all of them were going to get whatever supplementary lesson Dumbledore had in store. They all started walking again, down flights and flights of stairs. Along the way, Rei told them everything that went on with Snape and repeated what had happened the previous night with the youma and Hermione. By the time Rei had finished, she was not the only one who felt very confused.


	5. Self Study

Darkness and Light

Chapter 5

Updated as of 1/2/10. Another facelift chapter. I feel proud, heh.

* * *

Tonks was missing.

After their Transfiguration lesson, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had a free period before lunch, so they trudged back to the common room to work on the homework that they already had. Harry found it odd that Hermione had been so quiet all day, usually she was at her prime on the first day of classes. Ron, however, was talking away about the injustice of McGonagall giving his extra homework because he failed to remember something they had learned back in their fourth year.

"It was two whole years ago!" He kept repeating. "How am I supposed to remember something from that long ago?"

"It wasn't that long ago," Hermione said, though not with the tone of annoyance that was expected.

"We were so wrapped up with harry and the Triwizard Tournament, how were we supposed to learn anything?" Ron asked anyone who would listen.

When they climbed through the portrait hole, Harry saw some sort of exotic bird, sitting patiently on the table. Harry didn't have to guess who had sent the letter wrapped to the bird's leg. He quickly unwrapped it and sent the bird flying up to the Owlery.

"You have to build on the knowledge you already have!" Hermione was saying. "If you can't do that, then you'll never advance!"

"Then, I'll never advance!"

"Guys." Harry said. This was not good. Luckily, Ron and Hermione could tell in his voice that something was wrong, they stopped their bickering and came over to him. Harry read aloud,

_Dear Harry,_

_Something has gone terribly wrong, the entire Order could be exposed at any time. Tonks and Arthur were out on a simple patrol and Tonks was kidnapped without a trace. I fear she may be dead. Not even Arthur knows what happened. Tonks knows very well not to give any information about the Order or you or anything else that may endanger our cause, but it is always possible that they could be using Veritiserum...among other, much harsher methods of making her talk. Dumbledore should know this information now, so there is no need to even speak of this information out loud- _(at this, Harry looked around, making sure there was no one else in the common room who was close enough that they could have heard him)_ -but if for some reason you hear any sort of whisper, mutter, even see someone in Hogwarts who was not there the day before, tell us immediately. I have never felt so sick with worry, nor have I ever felt more useless just sitting here while she could be in pain. I believe I will be contacting you by floo on the tenth at one in the morning, please be there. And please, Harry, do not do anything that would put you in danger. _

_-Sirius_

"This is terrible!" Hermione exclaimed.

"I mean, know the Order's always putting themselves in danger..." Ron said, "But they always seemed so powerful, I never thought anything would actually happen to one of them."

"I guess all we can do is hope that's she's alive." Harry said, feeling as useless as Sirius.

"They'll find her." Hermione said. "I mean, they have to find her, right?"

"They'll find her." Harry repeated, not sure if he really believed it or not. He wrapped his arm around Hermione, trying to comfort her, butt she did not lean back into him as she always did.

* * *

The grounds outside were chilly, more chilly then a normal September day should have been. The twelve soldiers stood in the very center of the Quidditch pitch, a Quidditch pitch that was very abandoned. The garish cloaks that had them complaining on the train were now sorely missed; their school robes did not keep out the cold winds.

"Could this be a trap?" Haruka finally spoke what they all were thinking. "It's after ten."

"Maybe he's just late." Usagi suggested. "I mean, he's the headmaster, I'm sure he does lots of important stuff."

"Maybe this is a self study class." Ami said.

"I've found that self study classes don't go over so well at Hogwarts." A voice said. Professor Dumbledore walked onto the field, smiling brightly. "Forgive me for being late, I was speaking with Professor Snape." Before the girls and three boys could speak, he held up a hand and continued, "Professor Meioh filled me in on what happened last night, including the fact that Lord Voldemort seems to have somehow reached through time or space to conjure an Inferi from one of your old enemies, as well as the transformation of one of my own students."

"What's an Inferi?" Usagi and Minako asked at the same time.

"Professor, did you know we were coming ahead of time?" Rei asked before Dumbledore could answer the blondes' question. "Did Setsuna come to you?"

"I came to him." Another voice said from behind them. They all turned quickly and saw Cosmos there, flanked by two of their old enemies, Chiral and Achiral. The most mysterious of the warriors was wrapped on a very short, white, furry cloak that didn't even reach her bare knees, not bothered at all by the terribly cold wind that was whipping her white hair to and fro. In fact, she seemed quite amazed that she was somewhere that was not the Cauldron, she looked at the sights around her and took a deep breath of the air. The men who stood next to her did not look as aggressive as they did when they were being controlled by the Dark Kingdom, giving them no reason to attack right now.

"Lady Cosmos," Dumbledore addressed her, stepping over to her and taking one of her frail hands in his. "This is quite a surprise. I'm astounded you can afford to be away from the Cauldron."

"I have found someone there who is willing to watch and protect it in my place." The woman answered, placing her other hand over the old man's. "I feel that I am suffering a very common emotion, though now it is hurting me in a way I cannot bear any longer. Guilt. I am feeling very guilty."

The warriors knew almost nothing of Cosmos, only that she was the guardian of the powerful Cauldron and that she was the final form of Sailor Moon in one way or another. She had told Usagi that she had run away from something in the past, something she always seemed to be remembering.

"Let me first say that I did not know that when I sent you all to this time and place, I did not know just how much of your memory would be lost, and for that, I am truly sorry." Cosmos continued.

"Cosmos..." Chibiusa started suddenly. She looked at the ground.

"No, small one." The woman before them said simply. "You asked me, that day in the cauldron, to see your friends one more time."

It hit them all like a rush of water, pouring in quickly and steadily. They remembered. Usagi put a hand to her head, that is what she wanted? Yes...when she was in the Cauldron, all of the memories of her past life came back to her, and she remembered her friends who had given their lives to right the wrongs that Voldemort had done to the time stream. Harry...yes, Harry, he was one of them. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were close to them.

"Is that it?" Rei asked Cosmos. "Because both Snape and Draco said that our very presence here is a threat to everyone here! Wasn't there another reason we came?"

"It was us who caused Voldemort to summon that youma, wasn't it?" Michiru asked, feeling guilty at the very thought.

Cosmos did not speak for a moment, she was, for once, stuck for words.

"I believe I am still human." Cosmos said. Was it just the harsh wind, or was she shaking slightly? "And there is something...something which I can only discuss with Dumbledore, forgive me...there was a discrepancy...and Lord Voldemort was able to summon the deceased youma from the Cauldron."

"He was at the Cauldron?" Dumbledore asked, raising his eyebrows. "How could this have happened?"

"It is not something I'm especially proud of." Cosmos muttered. "If you will allow it, I would like to discuss it in private."

"Yes, of course." The elder wizard nodded.

"It was my fault that the youma attacked, and I have reason to believe that Voldemort has created something of a shortcut so that he can return to conjure whatever he likes at any time." Cosmos said. She truly did look guilty.

"Well, what does that mean, if he can conjure whatever he wants?" Usagi asked. "It's a black hole, he couldn't actually get any star seeds or anything, could he?"

"He has not yet figured out how to enter the Cauldron." Cosmos nodded. "And if he did, I fear that he could control anything. I will see that it never happens. I will."

"Um, Cosmos, is that why they're there?" Usagi asked, pointing at the twin sculptors who had once tried to kill them.

"Voldemort tried to take their bodies as well, but I gave them beck their star seeds. He could not take them any more." Cosmos nodded.

"We are grateful to Lady Cosmos," Chiral said, his voice hoarse.

"We protect her with our lives." Achiral added.

The senshi were not sure what happened that had Cosmos so shaken, they never imagined she would want protection of any sort from anyone. It was clear, however, that she would not tell anyone what had happened.

"Next, I believe you would like to know what happened with Miss Hermione Granger last night." Cosmos continued.

"Is she my daughter from the future?" Ami asked.

"She is not." Cosmos answered. Ami wasn't sure if she should be relieved or sad. "But she has inherited the power of Mercury nonetheless, but not from the you of this time."

"That makes no sense." Makoto pointed out. "Can our powers, like, time travel?"

"No, they cannot." Cosmos said. "I'm not exactly sure why another star was born last night. I wouldn't even have known if they hadn't informed me." She held out her hand towards Seiya, Yaten, and Taiki.

"You've been able to contact Cosmos?!" Minako exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I didn't want you to think we knew more then we did!" Seiya said quickly, raising his arms in defense. "We never came here, so there was nothing for us to forget!"

"I asked them to join you." Cosmos said, causing any commotion to stop once more. "I was dealing with so much that I couldn't keep an eye on you. But now I can, so if you will, I would like to take you back."

"I can't take it!" Chibiusa suddenly exclaimed. Everyone's eyes were on the small, pink-haired girl. Next to her, Hotaru looked very worried.

"Little one, are you sure..." Cosmos started.

"What's wrong?" Hotaru asked quietly.

"I'm sorry, Cosmos, I can't keep it up any more! I never lost my memory because I never really died!" She exclaimed. "I knew exactly what you all wanted to do here, but Cosmos made me keep quiet!"

All eyes were now back on Cosmos, who sighed, but managed a small smile.

"Why couldn't she tell us?" Haruka demanded.

"I cannot tell you." Cosmos said simply. "You have learned a lot of information today, and that is all you need to know."

"But, what about Hermione-" Rei started.

"I don't know how on earth she awakened now, but I have a hunch." Cosmos told them. "A hunch that involves me not telling you why Chibiusa should not have told you that she retained her memories." Cosmos was stubborn, she would not let anything slip that shouldn't have. "Now, I only have a few brief minutes here, and we have gone so far off track from Rei's original question. I came to see the headmaster, and I told him that you wanted to come, as sort of a dying wish sort of ordeal. He informed me that almost everyone in the school had been granted distorted memories and that it was very unlikely you would be remembered. You wanted to come back and see your friends, and I wanted there to be no violence. Just a simple trip to the school."

"It seems Lord Voldemort interrupted those plans." Dumbledore continued. "Miss Granger has not come to me about what happened last night, nor does anyone outside of the dorm know, though, so to everyone else, you are still just normal students. Miss Brown and Miss Patil have been spreading a rumor that you were practicing some sort of nightmare charm."

"But will this happen again?" Makoto asked. "Will the school be breached again? It'll be hard to stay hidden."

"And what if another senshi shows up?" Minako asked. "How will we explain it if we find someone who won't keep quiet?"

"We will deal with it as it comes, not to worry." Dumbledore reassured them.

"As for Hermione," Cosmos continued, "As I am not sure why and how she was awakened, I need you to try and find the solution."

"Find it where?" Usagi asked her counterpart. Cosmos did not answer, she only looked at the birds flying overhead.

"I will see you soon, my friends." She said. "Taiki, Yaten, Seiya, please come with me."

"Goodbye, _odango_." Seiya said fondly to Usagi, brushing his hand on her neck.

"Hey!" Usagi yelled, irritated. Seiya merely laughed and went to stand with his brothers next to the silver-haired woman.

"I shall owl you tonight, Professor." Cosmos told Dumbledore. There was a flash, and then Cosmos, Chiral and Achiral, and the three brothers were gone.

"Now unfortunately, this encounter has not only left us with no time for any sort of lesson whatsoever," Dumbledore said, chuckling, "But I now have to explain how three of our students have vanished. Hmmhmm."


	6. My Team

Darkness and Light

Chapter 6

Updated as of 1/3/10

It's very clear that I don't know how to write battles :3

* * *

Since the day that Harry had found out that Tonks had gone missing, things seemed as if something was slightly off in the universe.

For one, his girlfriend was ignoring him. Not purposely, of course, Hermione would still respond to him and smile when she saw him, but those times were few and far between. When she wasn't in the common room, nose buried in her homework, she said that she was going somewhere with Usagi or one of the other transfer students, and there she would stay until right before curfew, sometimes even a little after. Mealtimes were the only times that Harry could actually see her and talk to her without her telling him not to talk in class or while she was doing her homework. He knew that she wanted to learn about the foreign students, but even this was a little farfetched.

But the party of international students had shrunk; the famous Three Lights were gone the next day, supposedly having just signed a new touring contract.

"Good." Ron said as soon as Minako told them at the Gryffindor table. "I never liked them much."

"I wish I had gotten to talk to them..." Ginny said dreamily. "I hope they put out a new album soon."

Hermione had, thankfully, not expressed any regret in the trio leaving, but that did not snap her out of whatever phase she was going through, either.

And then there was Draco, his arch nemesis. Said nemesis seemed to be going through a phase of his own, as he hadn't bothered Harry at all after the train incident. It was strange, like he suddenly decided that bullying Harry for no reason didn't causes him pleasure anymore. The rumor floating about the castle was that he and Rei, a Gryffindor, started dating. This didn't concern Harry at all, but everyone else seemed to think it concerned them.

"He shouldn't be dating that Gryffindor freak!" Harry had heard Pansy Parkinson mutter quite loudly. "He's much too good for her."

"She's conferring with the enemy!" He had heard someone in his own house.

"I think it's good that the two houses are getting together," Luna Lovegood said conversationally during Gryffindor's Quidditch tryouts, which she and a few of her friends had decided to watch. "Maybe all the pointless fighting will stop."

But Rei had denied each claim very vehemently, her eyes on fire with rage the more the rumor got around. Even today, the tenth, the day Sirius was supposed to contact Harry and the day of the first Quidditch match, she came down the dorm stairs in a huff, the laughter of her friends trailing after her.

"I mean, how many times do I have to say "no" before they get it?" She muttered, not really to anyone in particular. Harry, who was the only one in the room, nodded in fear.

"Rei, we're sorry," Usagi said as she came down the steps, Chibiusa following behind her.

"Yeah, we didn't know it would make you that upset!" The smaller girl said.

"It's okay, I guess." Rei sighed, rubbing her temple.

"But you've got to admit that he has some sort of feelings for you." Usagi pointed out. "And you do, too!"

Harry quickly turned away from the girls' conversation and sat on one of the couches, staring at someone's notes that were left on the table. He didn't really want to hear about how Draco felt about anything, but he was waiting for Hermione to come down the stairs so they could walk to breakfast together as they always had on Quidditch days.

"Well, maybe..." Rei said quietly. "But it's not like we'd exactly _last_, considering how little time we have left. And I told him this, so it's not like he's begging for my love or anything like that. I just want to be there for him, you know, so maybe he can go back to the way he was."

Harry scrunched his nose from his seat by the fireplace; the only way that he knew Draco used to be was the punching, cursing, insulting Draco. This new monotone, disappearing Draco was much more appealing.

"Oh, Harry," Chibiusa suddenly exclaimed. "I didn't see you there!"

Harry looked back to the three girls and smiled, "Do you know when Hermione's coming down?" He asked them.

"Oh, she went down to breakfast ages ago," Usagi said. Harry didn't say anything and replayed what she had just said in his mind. And his heart sunk.

"Thanks," Harry said simply, picking up his back and getting out of the cheery room as fast as he could. Why didn't she wait for him? Why?

* * *

Hermione's nose was in a book, yet again. She had assigned a task for herself and she would be damned if she failed before the warriors had to return to the Cauldron to sleep.

Ever since that night a little over a week ago when she had transformed into Sailor Chibi Mercury, Hermione had not only been training secretly, late into the night with the other senshi, learning how to control her powers, but she had also been looking for answers. Not even Sailor Cosmos, the most powerful of the senshi knew why she had transformed. Was Hermione even supposed to have these powers, or was it a fluke?

"Since I'm "chibi" as well," Chibiusa told her one day in the library, "And I come from the future, I would think that I would have, you know, seen you or something in the future. I didn't know there were any other "chibi" senshi." This statement only set Hermione back further, and her face must have show it, because Chibiusa suddenly looked worried. "But...but, I'm sure there's an answer...oh! Ask Setsuna!"

"Professor Meioh?" Hermione asked. The N.E.W.T level Defense Against the Dark Arts class was only held twice a week, but so far the dark-skinned woman proved to be a very competent teacher who actually taught them how to defend and use advanced spells, rather then just reading about it. But something struck Hermione as odd about her, she seemed to know everything, and not just about magic. She knew that certain students were about to make a grave mistake in their casting, in the halls she seemed to always stopped the first-year bullies before they even got to think about harassing anyone. And yet she was always smiling, a smile that seemed to Hermione very fake. But she was the only of the girls that she had not talked to, so perhaps there was some information to be learned from the oldest of the senshi.

After classes, Hermione was always training or keeping up with her massive amounts of homework, so there was no time to meet with her. After one of their classes, she had asked if she could meet with her before classes n the tenth, and the professor complied.

So there Hermione was, sitting inside of Professor Meioh's office, her nose in a book, for the professor was not there, but the office was unlocked. Her giant key-like staff also rested against the wall, a sign that she had been there, for she carried the thing everywhere. Hermione grew impatient after twenty minutes, she was quite hungry.

Just as she was about to leave, Professor Meioh entered the tiny office and greeted Hermione with the same, fake smile.

"Hello, Hermione," She said in her calm voice. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting, some third years were asking me about an assignment." Hermione nodded and opened her mouth to speak, but the other woman continued, "You're here to ask me if I know anything about you and the power that has just awoken in you. And I do."

"You do?" Hermione asked, smiling truly for the first time in days. "Do you know where my power came from, or why none of the other senshi know of me, even Chibiusa?"

"Of course I do." Professor Meioh smiled wider as she sat in the chair behind her cluttered desk. "I am Sailor Pluto, guardian of time. I am always standing over the gates of time, watching every moment in the past, present, and future to make sure that no one interferes."

"But you're here." Hermione pointed out the obvious.

"I am here, but I am also there, though perhaps not this specific me." She tried to explain. "Think of it as though I have several Time Turners working for me at once. Anyway, Hermione, I do know all of those things to some extent. Your power, of course, derives from Ami Mizuno, Sailor Mercury though not the Sailor Mercury of this time. She is not your mother, so her power was given up to you and sent to be stored until a time when it needs to be awoken."

"...and do you know when that happened?" Hermione prompted as Setsuna fell silent and stared at a space above Hermione's head.

"Yes." She said. "But I will not tell you."

"Why not?!" Hermione cried, not caring that Professor Meioh was her teacher. Why even bother telling her that she knew if she wasn't going to tell? And the more that Hermione watched her smiling and talking, it became more and more obvious that her smile was fake. What was she hiding?

"Because you are not a cheater, Hermione." Setsuna said simply. "If I gave you the answers to an exam, would you look?"

"Of course not!" Hermione said, not seeing what this had to do with her predicament. "It wouldn't show how much I know, just how much I can memorize. It's pointless."

"Exactly." Setsuna said, leaning forward. "If I told you where these powers came from it would be utterly useless. You, and the others that will no doubt awaken will need to dig deep to find this answer out for yourselves, and when you do, you will be stronger for it."

Hermione was silent, it didn't help her a bit, but it was a good retort nonetheless.

"But as to the why it has awoken now, that I can tell you, for you would soon come to the conclusion yourself anyways." The professor went on. "Voldemort, yet again, has thrown the course of things off of their normal place in the time stream."

"I don't understand." Hermione said.

"The powers you have were indeed meant to be yours, but not to be awoken just yet, if ever." Setsuna tried to explain. "But because Voldemort has decided to interfere with things, something that may very well be our own fault for coming here, you had to awake now to protect your friends."

Hermione took this in, this was also a logical enough answer. Not a satisfying one or a detailed one, but a straight answer. "Professor, if you're the guardian of time, can't you just go back into time and stop him?"

"Of course I could." Setsuna said, her smile unwavering. "Then I would die for messing with the time stream, followed shortly by about, say, ten thousand people who were injured just from the so-called butterfly effect."

"Oh." Hermione said. It was not as simple as a Time Turner, then. "So, um, what can you do, if you protect the stream of time but can't actually mess with it?"

"Well, I keep it safe from harm, obviously." The green-haired woman said. "This fluke in time is more in Cosmos's area, so I couldn't have foreseen this. The ability to know what I am and to travel through time allows me to be here with my allies to protect them."

"So, theoretically, even though you're in this borrowed body from Cosmos, you could switch places with another "you" from another time so that the You that's here could have all of your memories," Hermione mused.

"Why yes." Professor Meioh smiled wider, this time, Hermione though, it looked like a real smile. "I dare say I could. But now," The older woman looked at the clock on the wall opposite of Hermione. "I believe that there is a Quidditch match today and Gryffindor is playing. I wouldn't want you to miss it."

"Oh, no!" Hermione shot up from the seat and almost smacked herself in her forehead out of frustration. "I forgot about the game! Harry's probably waiting for me, if he hasn't already gotten mad and left...I bet he has..." She quickly gathered up her school robe and her book bag and rushed out of the small office.

* * *

"_Aaaand_ it's Gryffindor in the lead, 60 to 40! Keys passes to...wait, no, Keys was just intercepted by Gryfindor's new chaser, Joseph Lee! And with that...will he...yes! Gryffindor scores again, that brings us to 70-40!"

It was Colin Creevey's first year as the official Hogwarts Quidditch announcer, but his over excited sort of nervousness that had made him less then desirable during his first few years were now working for him, giving him the energy to get the crowd excited in what was not the most exciting of matches that had started the same time as a terrible storm. His loud voice echoed over the thunder, as did the cheers from all around the stands.

Harry was slowly flying around the field, his vision more obstructed in this cold rain then usual. Hermione had once performed a spell that had made his glasses rain-repellant, but he didn't remember it. Where was she? He might very well miss the snitch just because he was looking for Hermione in the stands.

Harry then looked to the Ravenclaw stands, where he could See Ami and Michiru's bright, strange hair standing out amongst the sea of dull tones. They cheered whenever Ravenclaw made a good play, but also whenever Gryffindor scored as well. That was nice. It was the sort of thing that Cho would...Cho!

A blur passed by Harry, heading straight for the ground, a very Cho-like blur. Had she seen the snitch already? It was hard to catch up even with his faster broom, it was like the wind was trying to push him and only him back. The rain almost felt as if it was stinging. But he pushed on, getting closer and closer to her back. Harry looked in front of her but saw no golden, winged ball. Was she doing the Wonskie Feint? No, Cho would not do something like that, especially when it was Harry who she was trying to defeat.

Her body looked limp, as if she was barely hanging onto the broom. There was something wrong, it was almost as if she was trying to pull her broom up but just couldn't master the strength.

"Cho?!" Harry cried. He could barely hear his own voice over the rain and the wind. Within seconds, Harry had to pull up, but Cho did not. She hit the ground, and this Harry could hear. Madame Hooch's whistle could be heard blowing from twenty feet away. She was by Cho's side almost instantly after, as was Harry and the rest of the Ravenclaw team.

"She's unconscious, and she's definitely broken more then a few bones," Madame Hooch said. "You, and you, help me take her into your changing tent, no doubt Madame Pomfrey is already on her way down."

Two of the boys on the team picked up Cho as gingerly as possible, Madame Hooch levitating the girl once she was in something of an upright position. Harry watched as she slowly floated in front of Madame Hooch, towards the tent where the teams changed and got ready...and was that a trick of the rain or did Harry just see blonde hair and gray eyes looking out at him from Ravenclaw's tent for a split second? What would Malfoy want in there?

"Um, well, it looks like the team is taking a quick time out while they see how badly Chang fell," Colin announced. "Everyone just try and stay dry and we'll, um, let you know as soon as the match is going to start again!"

Next to Harry, his teammates started to appear and land. Harry led the way into their own tent, which was so very warm and dry. Harry sat down on one of the benches and ran a hand through his drenched hair.

"Here." A voice from behind him said. Harry felt a fuzzy towel being placed on his head, and when he turned, he saw Hermione standing there with another one at the ready. She looked devastated.

"Thanks." Harry said, slowly patting his hair dry. He wasn't quite sure what to say to her.

"I'm so sorry, Harry!" Hermione said, taking the initiative as she always did. "I had an appointment with Professor Meioh and I just lost track of time!"

"Right." Harry said. "You couldn't have had this meeting at any other time?"

"I'm busy!" Hermione snapped back. "With all of the classes that I'm taking-"

"I know you're taking a lot of classes!" Harry said, not really wanting this particular argument to happen right then, in the middle of a game with all of his teammates listening in. "But I've just been feeling a bit ignored because it seems like you're always with those Mousetsu girls, every single day!"

Hermione didn't speak, as if the fact that she was always with them was a secret. "I...can't explain why I've been hanging out with them so much." She said after a moment. Before Harry could make a proper retort, she quickly added, "But I didn't mean to just ignore you like that, Harry, I'm so sorry! It's just that, well, I don't really get along with a lot of the girls here at Hogwarts, and those girls are smart and, and, cultured and, well, I guess I was just so caught up and excited that I had some girl friends to talk to, and, well, I'm so sorry, Harry!" She finished, throwing herself at him, almost knocking the wind out of him. Harry hesitated, but eventually he wrapped his arms around her as well, happy to have her back.

"It's okay." He said finally. "But I like spending time with my girlfriend."

"I like spending time with you as well." She said quietly. "Now. What did I miss this morning?"

"I woke up at five thirty because of Ron's snoring." He shrugged. Harry looked from left and right to ake sure none of the other players were close to him. "And I thought I saw Malfoy in Ravenclaw's tent."

"What would Malfoy be doing there?" She asked, eyebrows narrowed in frustration.

"I don't know, it looked like he was waiting for them to come back with Cho," Harry said. He hadn't actually wondered why he might have been in there until then.

"You don't think he had something to do with why she fell, do you?" Hermione asked. "What reason does he have to sabotage the Ravenclaw team when he could curse you instead?"

"Yeah..." Harry thought. Honestly, he didn't think Draco had anything to do with Cho. Ever since some time last year, something had been off with Cho. She had looked as if she was always exhausted and always crying, but not over her old flame Cedric.

"Harry," Ginny, who was one of the team's newest members, ran up to him. "I think we're starting again."

"What's wrong with Cho?" Harry asked, removing the towel from around his neck.

"They're not saying." Ginny said. "But they found a backup. No doubt you'll see the snitch ten minutes before he does!"

"Great." Harry smiled. Really, he was worried about Cho, but he could find out about that later. Right now, he had a game to win for his house. Afterwards, he was sure he would spend the evening with Hermione and Ron before the night when Sirius would contact them, and maybe he would find something out about Tonks. He stood up and made to grab his broom, but Hermione kissed him first, hard and long. She then tapped his glasses and muttered the spell that only she seemed to know that cleared up his glasses.

"Good luck." She smiled.

Harry found himself grinning. He grabbed his broom and started to lead the team out of the tent, but just before he could exit into the cold rain, a wall of fire snaked itself before him, trapping them inside.

* * *

Chibiusa pouted, her arms growing weary from holding the umbrella that sheltered both herself and Hotaru from the freezing rain. This was Quidditch? She had seen games before in the 30th century, but usually they were much more interesting.

"When are they going to start again?" The pink-haired girl whined.

"That girl seemed to be controlled by something very dark." Hotaru said quietly. "Something that controls Professor Snape as well."

"I hope she's okay!" Chibiusa said, nodding to herself.

"Hm." Hotaru simply said, her eyes darting back and forth. "Someone is here who should not be here. Someone who wishes to cause harm and terror."

"Death Eaters?" Chibiusa asked quietly. "Or is it another youma?"

"Both, perhaps, I'm not sure." Hotaru muttered. "I'm sure the others can sense it as well."

"Oh." Chibiusa said, looking fro whatever Hotaru was sensing. "Um. Why can't I?"

"You're less experienced, probably." Hotaru said. "You'll learn in time. But as your team seems to be awakening now, so perhaps you should try and perfect your techniques."

"My team?" Chibiusa asked.

"The "chibi" senshi. Your generation. Much like we are to Sailor Moon."

"So you can't be a part of my team?" Chibiusa pouted.

"I will always fight for and with you," Hotaru nodded.

"Good!" Chibiusa smiled, grasping Hotaru's hands with her free hand, making the black haired girl blush slightly. "You're mine!"

Suddenly, there were screams. A tall line a fire began snaking its way around both the exterior of the field and the outside of the stands as well. The fire in the field began making its way into the middle of the pitch, forming into a shape...something that looked like a snake coming from the mouth of a skull...

"Voldemort's mark!" Hotaru exclaimed. "There's a spy here!"

There was commotion everywhere, everyone in the teacher's box had leapt up at once, immediately finding whoever had done this and chasing after him or her, spells going everywhere. Students were panicked and fleeing, running this way and that, trampling some of the smaller students. Chibiusa got up, but a tall seventh year got knocked down the stands, pushing her with him. She fell all the way to the bottom and nearly toppled over the edge, but Hotaru caught up with her and grabbed onto her.

"Are you okay?" Hotaru asked, looking over her best friend.

"I'm fine," Chibiusa smiled weakly. She looked down into the field of fire where she had almost met her end, and saw a shape emerge from the fire, as if someone had run right through the flames.

"Chibiusa, look!" Hotaru gasped. "It's the next one!"

There was a burst of fire from the figure which seemed to attack and extinguish the cursed flames, making them die down. Slowly, the figure fell backwards, the fire disappearing from around her, Sailor Chibi Mars; Cho Chang.


	7. Speculations of the FivePoint Star

Darkness and Light

Chapter 7

Updated as of 2/2/10

Huuhuu, sorry for the late delay .

As a note, thank for the people who are just now favoriting it and watching it. But I'm pretty sure that if the chapter is just being replaced, not added, it you won't get a notification. If you would like me to personally notify you when an update is posted, just say so in the comments and post an email if you like (if not, I'll just PM you).

* * *

The hospital wing was crowded and wholly over capacity, but there was nothing that Madame Pomfrey could do, not after Dumbledore requested that every single one of the transfer students and the new teacher crowd around Miss Cho Chang's bed. Dumbledore had the nerve to tell her that they were better qualified to ease the shock of what happened - he hadn't even told her exactly what had happened! Cho had collapsed mid-game, and Madame Pomfrey came to her aide in the tent. Suddenly, there was fire everywhere in the pitch, caused by someone who appeared to have been bewitched. Cho suddenly got up and ran right through the fire - and there she was now. She had escaped with very few burns, it was quite extraordinary, actually.

But what worried the mediwitch more was...did those girls from Mousetsu know Cho's secret?

It was common knowledge that Cho's parents worked for the Ministry. Last year during the winter break, as an act of terror, warning, or perhaps even something else, Lord Voldemort kidnapped the girl and branded her with his mark. It was awful, Cho still came into the hospital wing claiming she didn't feel well and needed to lie down. Any time Lord Voldemort wanted, he could make her feel pain, he could get inside her head. It was awful.

But Madame Pomfrey trusted Dumbledore. With a sigh, she turned back to look at the gaggle of girls hovering close to Cho's bed, speaking in soft tones before resigning to her office.

"Did you know that You-Know-Who marked me?" Cho asked. This statement came after about five minutes of pure silence, and the silence came after the girls tried as best as they could to explain to Cho that she had inherited the power of Mars, making her Sailor Chibi Mars.

"Marked you?" Haruka repeated, her face suddenly cold. Cho looked to both sets of doors, making sure no one was there. Slowly, she pulled up the sleeve of her Quidditch robes and revealed the Dark Mark upon her arm, not as dark as it normally was, but still very visible.

"I think he just happened to choose me." Cho said, surprising herself at how easily she could talk about this. "But...you say I'm a warrior for justice?"

"That's right," Ami said, smiling gently and motherly.

"It's almost karma, then, isn't it?" Cho said, pulling her sleeve back down.

"So...does this mean you're okay with it?" Minako asked. "Being a senshi? A warrior?"

"As long as you're fighting for the good," Cho nodded. "Yes. I want to end him myself. I want to make him hurt like he's made me hurt."

"That's the spirit." Chibiusa smiled.

* * *

After the game spontaneously ended, the witch who had come from Hogsmede set free of the curse that caused her to make that fire, and the game rescheduled to next weekend, Harry found himself back in his dorm, Ron by his side.

"We were ahead." Ron said. "So it's not a complete waste."

"What do you think happened to Cho?" Harry asked as he through his uniform back into his trunk.

"Dunno, mate." Ron shrugged. "Where's Hermione?"

"Don't know." Harry sighed and sat on his bed. The two had talked, and he thought things were better. Hermione apologized, she seemed truly sorry for running off with those other girls all the time. But where was she now?

"You ever think that maybe she's a bit mad that you're still hung up on Cho?" Ron suggested.

"I am not hung up on her!" Harry exclaimed. "She's a friend, and the whole school knows something's been wrong with her since last year!"

"Sorry," Ron shrugged. Harry wondered where such an odd accusation came from. "Maybe she's downstairs, she probably got lost in the mob of people."

"Yeah." Harry sighed. He was sure she wasn't, but at least he knew he would see her tonight, when they would talk to Sirius and, hopefully, find out if they had found Tonks. The two boys got up from their respective beds and headed down the stairs. It was, for once, relatively empty, save for Rei, Usagi, Chibiusa, and, surprisingly, Cho. Rei was staring into the fire very intently, as if something could jump out at any moment.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked without even realizing Cho was there.

"She's fire-reading." Chibiusa explained. "Fire can tell you a lot of things."

"About _what_?" Ron asked, the dislike in his voice clear. Harry had to admit, it sounded just like the things that the divination teacher, Professor Trelawney would say.

"What are you doing in here?" Harry asked Cho. "Are you okay?"

"Um, yes, thank you." Cho said, managing a small smile. "I'm waiting for Hermione to get back."

"Get back from where?" Harry asked. He never thought that Cho and Hermione were great friends or anything.

"We needed something from the library, but we were all tied up," Chibiusa explained. "Hermione knows the place really well, so she knows where all the right books are!"

"Well, how did you even get in here," Harry asked Cho.

"Can't she?" Usagi asked honestly. "I mean, we let her in."

"Well, it's pretty much frowned upon." Harry explained.

"You know a lot about Hogwarts." Usagi nodded. "This school's so strange! Changing stircases and poltergeists - I mean, are they dead or alive? History of Magic is taught by a ghost and every time I'm in potions I'm afraid that if I add in one wrong thing I'll blow the whole school up!"

"Well, um," Harry was slightly taken back by the blonde's sudden outburst.

"Didn't Mousetsu have all those things?" Ron asked.

"Mousetsu?" Usagi repeated, as if she didn't know the name of her own school. "...ah! No, we didn't. Two floors, two staircases. All of our teachers were human, and um, there wasn't really many potions classes."

"Harry, may I ask you something?" Rei suddenly spoke up. "Being who you are, you know probably more then others about You-Know-Who and the Order, am I right?"

"How do you know about the Order?!" Both Harry and Ron exclaimed.

"Snape, is he a part of it?" Rei continued.

"Yes, but-" Harry started.

"Snape?!" Chibiusa exclaimed. "He creeps me out!"

"Hmn." Rei nodded, as if the fire and her were having a secret conversation. "Usagi, I'm sorry, but can you go to the library and meet up with Hermione, I forgot that I need another book, Common Misinterpretations of Fire Imagery. Do you think you can?"

"I will," Harry said.

"No, no, I don't want to impose," Rei said, quickly turning around and practically pushing her friend put of the portrait hole, as if she didn't want Harry to see Hermione.

"Where's the library?" Harry heard the girl cry as she was shoved from sight.

* * *

Usagi hadn't said anything to her friends, but she had been feeling nothing but guilt ever since that first attack. Though she still didn't remember everything, she now knew it was her selfish wish that brought them there, her selfish wish that caused students here harm. But then again, she tried to also remind herself that it was her selfish wish that seemed to awaken more senshi. More friends.

Hermione, who she was currently searching for, was a great friend. She always helped her with her schoolwork and taught her handy spells. She was just like Ami, no wonder she somehow obtained her powers. Usagi was sure that they were friends in her past life.

But Usagi was not the Usagi she was in her past life. She knew back then, she must have been regal and refined, able to take care of situations and find her way. Now, she could not find her way. The castle had deceived her once more and she was lost. She didn't know what floor, only that it was dark, the rain outside had not let up and the clouds were blocking what was left of the sun. There weren't any students on this floor, maybe they were all in the great hall? Just then, Usagi's stomach growled, she hadn't had lunch at all!

Suddenly, there was a clicking of shoes, someone was coming her way! Usagi smiled to herself and turned around happily. Maybe it was even Dumbledore and she could talk to the great wizard about this world, it was all just like a fairy tale to the blonde. But when she turned, she saw instead Professor Snape, not looking her way at all. While her first reaction would have been to cringe at the sight of the foul man and hide in the nearest unlocked room, she remembered that Rei had talked to him and he seemed to know of their predicament. That, and she was talking to Harry about him right before she was thrown from the common room, it was kind of a coincidence. So with that thought, Usagi mustered up the courage and cleared her throat, causing the professor to see her and stop.

"Um, excuse me, Professor," Usagi said as nicely as possible. "I think I got lost, um, where's the library? Isn't it on this floor?"

"It's on three floors down on the right." The black haired man said before quickly turning and walking back from where he came. It was if being near Usagi made him uncomfortable. Usagi pursed her lips and let a temporary bout of anger wash over her before stalking after him.

"Hey!" Usagi called, only realizing seconds later that calling so loudly after a teacher was rude in Japan, no doubt the rest of the world found it rude as well. "Um, err-" the blonde stuttered and blushed.

"_Yes?_" The professor asked, the annoyance more then evident in his voice.

"Well, um, I was just wondering-" Usagi started, thinking fast. "Well, you know, you remember the events from last year and you're, well, on our side, aren't you?"

"I would hardly say I am on your side, but I am not against you, if that's what you mean." He said, his voice quite devoid of emotion. Usagi frowned, why did he seem to dislike her so much?

"Why didn't your memory get modified?" She tried asking him.

His answer came quickly and simply, "It wouldn't have affected me."

"Why is that?" Usagi prodded on. "Are you that powerful?"

"Yes." He said simply, clearly sarcastic. Usagi pouted a bit at his lack of a clear answer, expecting him to continue to walk away. Instead, he sighed in defeat and said, "Much like you, I am the reincarnation of someone who was on the Moon Kingdom."

"Wow, really?!" Usagi exclaimed. Snape was clearly not as entranced with her bubbly personality as her friends were. "Aside from the other warriors, I've never met anyone else who was a reincarnate! Well, Queen Beryl, but..."

"As it were, it's not a fact I care to share with everyone," He said quickly.

"I won't tell anyone, promise!" Usagi smiled. "What sort of things do you remember?"

A pause, then, "Good day, Miss Tsukino." Snape left, and the blonde was left standing alone, confused by the black-haired man. He was harsh and he was cruel, but if he had come from the Moon Kingdom like himself, then he couldn't be all that bad, could he?

She turned around and looked at the dark hallways before her. Before she could even take two steps, she realized that she had completely forgotten where Snape said the library was. Everything looked the same. Usagi whined quietly, and decided to just run back towards Gryffindor. At least, that's where she thought she was going.

* * *

Hermione was sitting in the corner of the library, completely blocked off from everyone else, as she preferred. There were only two books accompanying her today. The first sat at her feet, bound in red and gold, Little Known Facts of Fire, Fright, Imagery, and More. Sirius was due to contact them tonight, and last time Hermione checked, Rei was kneeling before the fire, looking for any signs of...something. It was something that if Professor Trelawny had pulled, she would have scoffed, but Rei was something like the goddess of fire, and she believed that maybe she could tell something from the fire. Hermione had wondered to herself what would happen if Sirius decided to show his face when Rei was still there, would there be any harm to it? Probably not, no.

Hermione had open the second book, Future Speculations of Lunarians and Their Kingdom in the Skies. This book was quite interesting and very hard to find, literally, for it was shoved in the back of two others. Based on people and their tales from the Moon Kingdom of the past, the book is made entirely from theories and stories and predictions on what would become of the few reincarnates of the original Silver Millennium in the next few centuries. At that moment, she was reading the chapter about the Five-Point Star, something that Hotaru had mentioned very briefly to her after the Quidditch game. She told Hermione that she was one of them. All she knew about the Star was that it was a group of 6 people from the future, and the book, while very wordy, didn't go much into detail. Every now and then she would stop and pause and think, will this be me? Will I have to do this?

She shook her thoughts from her head and directed her attention to the book where she silently read the introduction once more, looking for any clue to dissect;

'_The Five-Point Star is not only a futuristic group of 6 warriors, but also legendary. Not only has the origin of their powers, the original "sailor warriors" fought in the past, but also there have been instances where the Star themselves has gone to the past. Some people, though it is not on record, say that the Star originated on the moon, though not of the past._

_The Star is made up of 6 people, even though a star has five points. The six are the chosen ones, given the planetary powers of the planetary warriors (or 'Chibi' as they call themselves in Japanese), are of the Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus, and the sixth is of unknown origin. It is unknown whether the tradition of passing one's power, whether by choice or birthright, extends to other planets and stars. It is highly possible that every warrior (or 'senshi') can do this if they please, opening up the possibility for next-generation warriors from Pluto, from Mau, and anywhere else._

_Little more is known besides the previous, except myths and legends. However, there is one myth that is commonly told. When the Star comes together for the first time, it is said that the sixth and most lone is the enemy thanks to pieces in it's past. To truly come together and combine their powers against a formidable opponent, the sixth warrior is sacrificed in order to give the rest of the Star more power.'_

What a scary thing, Hermione thought. There might very well be a group of them, a group of warriors just like her who had looked up to Sailor Moon and the others, and now must essentially become them. But one of them had to die. She shuddered at the thought, and quickly flipped to the next chapter, hoping for something much more pleasant.


	8. Feeling ill, feeling better

Darkness and Light

Chapter Eight

Updated as of 5/9/10

My, so sorry this took so long! Cosplay, end-of-year projects, and a change of major, but it's now summer, so hopefully this should go much quicker now. I really do appreciate the patience of everyone sticking with this updating process. It's actually a lot of fun!

The first part...is kind of just fluff xD And, um, yes I know that at the very end, there's a terrible time continuity issue (it was afternoon, then suddenly it's late night) but, um...I could only edit the story so much without tearing my eyes out. Sorry x.x Enjoy.

* * *

_The night before the Quidditch match..._

The rain that pounded relentlessly on the castle walls was a soothing sound to many, but did nothing to relieve the pounding inside of Severus Snape's head. Neither did the stirring of his potion, nor the fumes that came from the stirring which may have been the cause of the headache. Yes, that was the cause. He was not getting sick, or so he told himself. He had a very good record of never missing a class and intended to keep it until he could be relieved of this infuriating teaching position. But as the candles in his personal office grew dimmer, Snape found that he could no longer breathe through his nose and his throat was getting dry and it hurt to swallow. How annoying. It was, however, some sort of miracle he didn't get sick more often, what with all the students running around who didn't know something as simple as a good cleansing spell after visiting the lavatory.

Or it could have had something to do with the late nights he had been putting himself through lately. Ever since those girls came back, there was just something nagging him at the back of his mind, not letting him sleep until he actually made all the potions Poppy requested instead of the half that she would actually use, or the potions that stocked a box inside of the Quidditch changing tents, or about half a dozen mundane things that Snape would get to eventually but usually put off in favor of doing things such as getting at least five hours of sleep a night and eating a proper meal. But their very presence put him on edge. He had to keep moving and do these things, not even he knew why he was acting the way he was.

But he did know that three hours of sleep a night, combined with the ever-present pain stemming from the dark mark on his arm and the usual annoyance of his students was taking a toll on his body. He looked at the green swirling mass in front of him; he could leave it until the next day. This was a potion that could sit, as it was developed in war times. The knock on the door made up his mind for him - he stood up quickly and left the room, making his way to his private quarters where the knocking came from. He opened the door to see Setsuna standing there, that small, calm smile permanently etched on her dark face.

"Good evening, professor." She said in her low voice. "Though not so good for you, it appears." She added, looking the man up and down.

"No." Snape agreed shortly, not really wanting to talk to one of _them_ tonight, least of all the one who actually retained her memories.

"But being a potions master, you must have the cure for most everything right in your bedroom, don't you? How convenient is that." Setsuna continued in a very nonchalant manor.

"Except for relieving headaches, it seems." Snape muttered under his breath. Standing up had made him dizzy and talking with this woman just irritated him more. "What is it you need?"

"I need to talk to you, Severus." Setsuna said, the smile suddenly vanishing from her face. "May I come in?"

The man didn't even get a chance to think about answering before the woman stepped in, green hair floating along hypnotically, reminding him of the potion he was just tending to. Did he remember to douse the flame under it? Snape couldn't remember, and it was troubling him that he couldn't remember such a simple thing.

Setsuna made herself comfortable on one of the black couches, Snape sat on the armchair opposite from her. The woman was staring at him very intently now.

"I do really hate to always have to be so tight-lipped." She started, staring off at the closed door that lead to his private rooms. "But it's my role. I always have to keep secrets from friends, lest throw off the balance of time. You know what that's like, yes?"

"Not the that extreme, but yes." Snape agreed. He tried nodding, but that only made his vision swim. He needed this woman gone, now. He needed sleep. The next day only held a Quidditch game, he didn't have to attend at all. He could actually let himself rest for once. If he fell asleep right then and there, would Setsuna care? Did he care?

"I knew it was you all along." Setsuna continued. "Last year. I knew that you were the reincarnate of King Osiris."

"Ah." Snape said, not sure what she wanted from this conversation. Talking about _that_ was really not on his agenda tonight. Or ever.

"Not just because I could look ahead or into the past, but you really are just like him. You just lead a very different life. Even when I had to leave Hogwarts, and King Osiris came to the ball on the moon, I could tell quite easily that it was you holding Serenity and not the man I once served."

"Very good, is there a point?" Snape urged her. He was only half listening, he was still thinking about the fire that may or may not still be burning in his office. He was growing very cold and didn't really mind so much if his office decided to combust. At least it would be warm.

"Sorry, I don't mean to prattle, I just do miss talking to Osiris, and I guess I get carried away since you essentially are him..." Snape glared at Setsuna, who paused and continued. "Anyway. I needed to talk to you about Draco."

"He remembers bits and pieces from last year." Snape said without thought. "And I've made sure that he won't cause anything else to breach the school again."

"Yes, that I learned from Rei." Setsuna said, waving her hand. "But this is a little more, well, different. He-"

"One moment," Snape muttered, getting up quickly. It was if he could hear the fire crackling through the stone walls! He made his way to his office, throwing open the doors and brandished his wand. But there was no fire under the cauldron, he had indeed extinguished it. Snape sighed and breathed heavily. Why was he imagining such things? And why was his office so damned cold?! The man gripped onto his desk for support as black spots suddenly marred his vision; he had stood up much too quick. He couldn't see a thing now, he felt himself stumble backwards, and after that it was still very black.

He didn't know what time it was when he finally came to, but he knew time had passed. The rain outside was still coming down, though not nearly as hard. He realized he was in his own bed, now, and he realized very quickly that despite being under three layers of sheets he was freezing. He removed the cold washcloth that had somehow appeared on his head and placed it on the pillow next to him, as far as he could reach. He couldn't sit up, though. He couldn't move anymore, all he could do was pull the blankets over his head and let his hot breath insulate his little cave.

Something outside the blankets moved and spoke, and soon he was looking at Setsuna. Right, she was there.

"You're up?" She asked rhetorically. As his vision slowly became more clear, he noticed her hair was messed up and her clothes were a bit disheveled. "Merlin, you had me worried! You almost split your skull on the stone floor!"

"What time is it?" He asked, voice cracking.

"It's around three, I think." Setsuna replied. "Do you remember what happened?"

"For the most part." He groaned. Her hand was suddenly on his head, thankfully it was warm for he didn't have the energy to remove it.

"You really need to get out from the sheets, Severus, you're burning up!" Setsuna told him. "I'll go get you a fever reducing potion from your stores, but-"

"_Miss Meioh_," Snape growled, sitting up the best he could, "I am a grown man and I can go into my own stores and get my own things, and I'll have you know that this room is anything but burning at the moment."

"I swear you're burning up!" The tall woman replied, concern in her face. "Your face is red, I can feel the heat coming off of you."

Snape knew it was useless to try and feel one's own fever, but he felt his head anyway. She was right, he was hot! If he could actually feel it, he must be hot, though he felt so cold. He sighed; it wasn't even two weeks into the term, why did he have to get sick now?

"Severus, I really think you should take a cool bath and change into fresh clothing," Setsuna told him. "I'll even get it started for you."

Snape would have loved nothing more then to remind her again that he could take very good care of himself and that he knew what he needed, and that her presence did absolutely nothing to speed up his healing. But he was still weak and didn't really have the strength to yell or be snide. That and...it was three in the morning. He had invited her in sometime around ten, and it was obvious by her appearance she had stayed in his quarters the whole time. She had stayed here, and not told Dumbledore, and not sent him to the infirmary where his students could gawk at him. For that last one especially, he was grateful.

"Fine. Do what you want." He said, lowering himself back onto the pillows. Setsuna smiled and made her way to his bathroom. He heard the water flowing and rushing, and Snape noticed that at least his headache was gone.

It had almost hurt to be in a tub so cold, but he had to admit that he no longer felt extremely hot or cold. Setsuna was waiting for him when he was finished, now looking as composed as she did as she came in, with a few of his own potions already properly measured out, along with one he didn't recall ever brewing.

"You have everything you need?" She asked him as he took the potions quickly. "I assume you wanted me gone as soon as you had things covered."

"Yes," Snape nodded. "Though I did wonder, I couldn't find any evidence that I fell. I suppose I owe you thanks for healing me."

"Oh, you never actually hit the ground." Setsuna nodded. "I came in right before you fell. Being the guardian of time does have it perks sometimes." She smiled serenely.

Snape thought about this for a second, and looked at the bottle in his hand. He definitely never brewed this potion. "Might I ask, was there ever really anything you needed to talk about, regarding Draco?" He looked up at the woman, who didn't seem to know what he was talking about. "Or was that just an excuse?"

"Of course I had something to talk about, Severus." Setsuna said, not missing a beat. "But, it can always wait until you're well." She turned on heel and left through the wooden door, bidding him a quick recovery as it shut behind her. Snape set the bottle down on the bedside table and had to let out a dry laugh as he settled back into his bed. Those girls, they were all quite annoying.

When Snape awoke the next day, he hardly remembered a thing. A quick check of the clock told him that he was indeed going to miss the game, lest he jump out of bed and rush to get ready, something he really did not want to do. Slytherin wasn't playing, what was the point? He felt, though, that something was missing...pain! Snape shot up and realized that, for the first time in ages, the dark mark wasn't hurting him a bit. He looked at it, and noted that it was as dark as ever. So then...

...the potion. Snape had been much too out of it the previous night to really care what liquids he was being given. Was there something that could mask the burning effects of the Dark Lord's magic? Such a thing existed in this world, and he had overlooked it? He sniffed the bottle that the mystery potion had come from. He could identify the usual pain relieving ingredients, even a whiff of a rare extract of something-or-other that suppressed dark magic, but...something else lurked within this potion, something that Snape could not identify just by scent. There was no potion left in the bottle, he had downed it all the previous night when he had no sense of taste. The man sighed and put the bottle down; for a second, he was again executed about his profession. He doubted the guardian of time would tell him what he had been given, not without some sort of persuasion.

But if this potion was really the cause of his pain relief...Snape thought of the now-remorseful Draco, and Cho constantly sobbing about her pain. Madame Pomfrey couldn't do a thing about it, but this potion very well could! The man got out of bed and got dressed into fresh clothing. Setsuna didn't seem one for Quidditch, she was probably in her office. Snape headed up the empty staircases to the third floor, where Setsuna was indeed abut to enter her office.

"Oh, good morning, Severus." The much older woman smiled. "You look much better today, I'm glad."

"Yes." Snape said, wanting to rush things along. "I suppose I owe you thank for foreseeing my illness."

"Don't worry about it." Setsuna smiled, knowing very well he wasn't paying it any mind. "But you'll have to tell me what it is you need today, my mind's a bit preoccupied. I'm actually about to meet Hermione now."

"Miss Granger can wait." Snape said quickly. He pulled the empty bottle from his robe pocket and held it up. "This. What is it?"

"A bottle." Setsuna said very seriously. A look at Snape's face and she continued in a very quiet voice, "I assume it worked then? You can't feel his pain?"

"Not a bit." Snape said, speaking in whispers as well. "Do you have any idea what sort of modern miracle this potion is?"

"Not at all, seeing as its main ingredient comes from the Silver Millennium of the _past_." Setsuna said. "I just happened to have a bit on me, brewed it up in case of an emergency or something, but bringing back any more is surely breaking some sort of inter-dimensional space-time rule."

"Last year you brought _princesses_ back from the past, I don't see how a potion ingredient is as terrible as that!" Snape replied. Setsuna laughed a bit at this. "You don't seem to understand, this potion could aid those like Cho Chang who were marked forcefully by the Dark Lord!"

The green haired woman put a long finger to her lip in thought. "I didn't think about that. Didn't know, really." She nodded to herself. "And she's playing in today's game, isn't she? Right, I'll see what I can do. Poor girl doesn't need any more stress, she always seems so upset."

"And she's not the only one." Snape added. "The Dark Lord is making this a little game of his, putting his mark on innocent children."

"I see." Setsuna nodded again, no longer whispering as the plan had already been formulated inside her head. "After I meet with Hermione, I'll get right on that."

"What, is Granger complaining because someone actually blocked one of her spells?" Snape asked satirically.

"No, I think she just wants to know a bit more about her role." Setsuna said. Snape had no idea what she was talking about. "Oh, didn't Albus tell you? It seems Hermione has somehow inherited the powers of Mercury. She's one of us."

Snape wasn't sure what look he had on his face at that news, but whatever it was seemed to amuse Setsuna to no end, as she suddenly burst out in laughed, something he wasn't aware she was capable of.

"Go back to your rooms and rest, I'll bring you some of the Morovian as soon as I can get it," Setsuna said happily, turning towards her office door.

"Morovian," Snape repeated with a sigh as he turned around, making a mental note to look it up once he returned to his rooms. Granger was now a warrior? He wasn't exactly sure how he felt abut this. And Albus knew, and hadn't told him?

It wasn't even thirty minutes later before Setsuna knocked on his door, bearing an old, musty box.

"I've already made a bit for Miss Chang, and I made sure Draco got some of it, and he's going to make sure Cho gets it as soon as possible. He's headed for the pitch now." Setsuna told him. Snape opened up the box and saw the plant-like object known as Morovian. It was a dull sort of purple and resembled a sea anemone, with a short, fat base and many limp tentacles branching off of it. "It came from Mare Serenitatis. It obviously died out once Metalia and her army attacked the Moon Kingdom, though I think a few earth scientists tried to grow it once or twice. Oh, and I have the instruction with me, it's very simple and very quick to make, but very easy to mess up as well."

The man nodded and took the piece of parchment offered. He then thought for a second about what Setsuna had sad earlier, "You gave some to Draco?"

"Rei told me about what had happened with him." Setsuna nodded. "Maybe I shouldn't have, he seemed very upset that I knew."

"No, the boy's been giving himself grief that he forgot that he was fighting against his farther." Snape said, looking the recipe over. "He needs a break."

Setsuna nodded yet again and looked at Snape, watched him as he read the same line over and over, not really reading at all. "Go ahead and ask me. About Hermione."

"She inherited the powers of Mercury?" Snape repeated what she had said earlier. "I thought only the lunar line could do such a thing!"

"I don't really understand either." Setsuna said, sitting on the arm of the couch and looking off to the side, at one of the many bookshelves. "I'm thinking that, sometime in the future, Mercury gave her powers up and they now awakened because of Voldemort's interfering."

"Do you think that if you had never come here, this wouldn't have happened and she would have remained normal?" Snape asked.

"Yes." Setsuna said without even thinking about it. "I do blame our presence for this. And she's not the only one."

"Not the only one?!" Snape repeated, forcefully placing the box onto an end table. "You mean more students here...?"

"That's what it seems like." The woman said, a bit of sadness in her voice. "I'm not sure just how or why yet, but it seems that there is an entire new generation of us that seems to be something of an emergency system...like the soldiers of the future knew this would happen, so they gave up their powers and sent them here."

"That isn't supposed to happen!" Snape said, getting suddenly very upset. "Only the lunar line--! No one else was supposed to bear the burden!"

Setsuna looked at the man before her, the reincarnation of the king of the ancient Moon Kingdom. His life was so different from that of King Osiris's, he seemed not to care for the old kingdom one bit, yet here he was, enraged over such a thing. It was, to Setsuna, sort of heartwarming.

"Only the lunar line." Setsuna nodded. "Queen Serenity, to Usagi, to Chibiusa, and then to Chibiusa's offspring. Everyone else, it was just supposed to be them, reincarnated maybe once or twice, then left to rest for a new generation of planets and stars. I don't know why Hermione was chosen, nor anyone else at this school. Quite frankly, I don't think any one of them is ready to fight, nor do I understand any sort of connection to us. I'm as confused as you are."

Snape stared at her, lips pressed together tightly. There was something else..."I think Queen Serenity may have had another heir."

Setsuna looked up at him very suddenly, not smiling a bit. "Queen Serenity had no other child." She said very seriously. "I don't know what you're suggesting-"

"I'm suggesting that a very small piece of her starseed made it to earth when the kingdom fell and was reincarnated with everyone else." Snape said firmly.

The green haired woman looked at him like he was crazy. If her queen was there on earth now, wouldn't they feel her, such a strong entity? "Why do you say that? Where is this woman?"

"She's dead now." Snape said. He knew she wouldn't believe him. "And I know it was her, because those from the Moon Kingdom seem to only...love...one person."

Setsuna thought about what he said. Snape was the reincarnate of the king, and if the queen was, or had, been on this planet, he would have surely found her. She was already sitting, but she wished she wasn't, the shock of what he had said so great. Her queen had been on this planet, and she didn't even notice! What a terrible warrior she was! "And...she had a child? With you?"

"Not with me." Snape said. "But she did have a son. And I'm worried that he'll somehow inherit that power. He cannot handle it, nor does he deserve it."

"Usagi has the queen's powers." Setsuna replied. "And Chibiusa, hers. But, Hermione somehow has Ami's." She nodded, eyes at the floor. With a sharp breath of air, she stood up quickly and turned on heel. "Our two weeks here is almost up, but I feel that I must stay. I see your concern, Ill see what information I can uncover. The future is one big, blurry mess at the moment, but...yes, I'm afraid I must be going now, I'm needed in the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey will be flooing you in a moment asking for some burn healers. Seems Mars's powers have been passed on, now."

* * *

Usagi had wandered nearly every aisle of the dark, candlelit library and now decided that she hated libraries very much, especially this one. It was much too creepy and much too quiet! Where was Hermione?

Finally, the blonde found her, sunken into a big, fluffy armchair and buried in a book.

"Hello!" She greeted the brunette cheerfully. Hermione held up an index finger as she finished off a sentence before looking up at her friend.

"Oh, hi-" She started. Usagi noticed Hermione seemed to be looking in two directions at once and suddenly lurched forward, her feet knocking over her island of books. Usagi quickly knelt down and caught the girl before she could hit the wooden floor.

"You ok?!" Usagi asked, not caring if the beak-nosed librarian glared at her for talking loudly.

"I think I've been reading in the dark for too long," Hermione replied after sitting up. "I'm fine, promise!"

"You know, Hermione, you don't have to figure it all out right now," Usagi said, not only speaking from her own, lazy point of view, but from careful observation of the brunette. "When me and Ami and Rei started fighting together, we had no idea why this was happening to us or where our powers came from, but even Ami accepted that she couldn't know everything about being a senshi in one go. It just came to us one day and it'll probably come to you guys as well!"

"Mm." Hermione nodded, realizing Usagi was really worried about her. And today, she had forgotten her own boyfriend, and promised him she would stop...With a sigh of relief, she put the book in her lap on the table and scooted it far away from her.

"Great!" Usagi smiled. "Except, um, I came in here because I needed help finding a book for Rei." She said sheepishly. The blonde looked at the pile of books by Hermione and found the one she was looking for in the mess. "Oh, that was easy enough1"

"Oh, is she still fire reading?" Hermione asked, noticing the title of the book. She then realized, Sirius was due to make an appearance in the fire very soon. "It's getting late, isn't it? Maybe she should take a break."

"Maybe, but she never does." Usagi sighed. "I guess she's trying to find out the same stuff you are, but really, I think we should all just relax!"

"Yeah." Hermione said. She took the book from Usagi without thinking and began flipping though the page. A lot of it dealt with something about errors with fire reading...somthing about positive and negative...something about floo...Floo?! Hermione actually started paying attention to what it was talking about.

"According to this," Hermione said aloud, her way of memorizing things, "Divination like Rei's is a form of "positive" fire energy...and something unnatural, like Floo Powder is "negative"...and positive and negative should never be combined because...oh, what a terrible pace to have smeared ink!" Hermione cried softly, staring at the anti-climactic ending of the section.

"Well, what does Floo have to do with anything?" Usagi asked. Hermione looked up at the blonde, she swore Harry and Ron she wouldn't tell! But Rei or Sirius could be in danger, or maybe not...

"We need to get back to the common room," Hermione said simply, not even bothering to put her books back before racing off, leaving the lost Usagi behind.

The clock struck one and Hermione's insides lurched. She didn't know how, but she could feel that something just went wrong. After avoiding Peeves and a prefect patrolling the hallways and practically yelling the password to the Fat Lady, Hermione leapt through the portrait hole where she saw a sickeningly familiar sight: fire. Fire had seemed to encircle Rei and the others, and it seemed like poor Ginny had come downstairs at the wrong time as she too was being attacked by the fire. She had to make a split second discussion - Ginny was the only one there who was not a warrior, and her life was currently in danger. Hermione found her wand and held it in the air.

"Mercury Power! Make Up!" She found herself yelling. There was a chill in the air, and she then found herself in the sailor outfit which had become so familiar from the training she had been doing with the others late at night. "_Gelidus Orbis__!_" Hermione cried, bubbles and ice flowing from her wand and onto the fire. The girls closest to the fire were free, but for some reason, the fire around Ginny would not be dispelled!

But suddenly the fire seemed to e engulfed in green, were those leaves? Just as Usagi came busting in, shrieking at the sight, and just as Ron and Harry cam downstairs to see if Sirius was there, The fire was gone, eaten up by leaves. Ginny stood alone, but she now wore a sailor outfit, just like Hermione.


	9. Time's up

Darkness and Light

Chapter Nine

Updated as of 5/11/10

* * *

Harry had waited upstairs in the room for quite some time now, a bit frustrated and a bit bored. Frustrated because after everything that had happened between him and Hermione in the changing tents, she ran off to the library right after the game had ended. Bored because he was mulling these things over in his head much too much.

After a while, Ron had come up. He didn't get any more information out of the Mousetsu girls and was getting a bit fed up with them. Harry desperately needed someone to rant to about the entire situation, but he wasn't sure if his best mate was the right person. The right person would be...Hermione. Except it was Hermione he wanted to rant about.

A very brief and terrible thought crossed his mind, only for a split second; _Maybe we should break up? _Harry dispelled the thought the instant he realized he was thinking it - no! He loved her, didn't he? Maybe Hermione would snap out of this phase soon enough. At least, he thought grimly, he was cheating on him with books and friends rather then, well, a man.

"So how's your scar been feeling?" Ron asked suddenly. Harry figured it was just an attempt to clear the silence which had settled over the room.

"It's been hurting, but not too terribly." Harry said. "It's kind of just a constant headache."

Ron didn't really have a good reply for that, so that is how the conversation ended. Eventually, the two started working on their Transfiguration essay, a task which would have gone much quicker if they were downstairs on a real desk, ad if Hermione were there. Harry kept checking the time - night fell fast and Sirius was due to floo at one. Would those girls still be there?

Harry and Ron took turns checking to see if the girls were still there. Though most f them had laid out on the couches, Rei sat straight by the fire, looking almost like a young Professor Trelawny.

"What do we do?" Ron asked as the hour drew close. "Do we just tell them to leave?"

"Cho needs to get back to the Ravenclaw common room anyways, she should have left!" Harry said. This made no sense. "And Hermione never stays out past curfew!"

Ron was about to say something helpful when there was a crash and a few screams from the lower level. The two boys turned to one another and nodded before trying to head down the stairs - try be the key word. One of the tapestries the lined the staircases had caught on fire, a fire that seemed to stem from the common room. The tapestry fell from the wall, right in front of them. The two had their wands out, but...

"Really need you now, Hermione!" Ron cried, c;early having forgetting the spell. Harry concentrated hard for a second. He heard more noises from downstairs, more shouts. Suddenly it came to him--

"_Aguamente_!" He exclaimed, wand thrust forward. The flamed were doused in a miniature sea of water. The two continued down the stairs, the fire had somehow disappeared.

But what Harry saw when he got downstairs was not at all what he could have imagined, not that he really knew what he was imagining. There didn't seem to be many traces of a fire, though the fire in the floo was now out and there were a few burn marks on the carpet and the furniture. Closest to the fire was Cho, Rei, and Chibiusa, and for some reason, Makoto, Ami and Minako had joined them. Each of them looked very scared, yet they all held some sort of colorful object in their hands. In front of the other staircase was a girl who looked very much like Ginny, but there was some sort of magic surrounding her that didn't feel like Ginny at all, and she was wearing an odd sailor-like outfit of green and pink. But standing in front of the portrait hole, in front of an out of breath Usagi, was another girl in an odd sailor uniform with a similar magic surrounding her, bits of blue in her bushy hair. It was definitely a cloaking magic that surrounded the girls, but Harry could still tell that it was Hermione standing before him.

"G-Ginny!" Ron exclaimed, staring at the other sailor suited girl. Harry could see it now, too; the red hair and defiant look, it was definitely Ginny. She looked scared and didn't seem to understand why there was a tiara on her head and she was no longer in her pajamas.

"Ron! What's happened?" Ginny said nervously glancing at her new clothes. She looked at Hermione and seemed to know immediately who it was.

"Well..." Makoto said, stepping forward. At that moment, four more came through the portrait hole, all wearing identical sailor outfits in various colors. Looking carefully, Harry could tell it was Haruka, Michiru, Hotaru, and Professor Meioh, all wearing short skirts and brandishing some sort of weapon.

"We seem to have arrived too late," Michiru said, as if they had showed up for a tea party.

"What do we do about this?" Haruka asked, jerking her thumb at Harry and Ron. Harry was so engrossed in the fact that Haruka wasn't wearing pants that it took him a second to realize the amount of threat under her voice.

"It's just Harry and Ron!" Hermione exclaimed. "You must have known them last year!"

"I wish I remembered." Usagi pouted.

"Um, what's going on here?" Harry finally exclaimed, never being very fond of friends leaving him out of very important discussions.

"I think we'd all like to know that." Said someone. Professor McGonagall came in behind Hermione, her face both shocked and upset. The Professor glanced at the scene; Burn marks everywhere, many of the girls (including a colleague) in short mini-skirts, one of which holding a glaive with a very sharp edge and one of them holding a saber. Girls from other houses were there and all looked very involved, and Ron Weasley was calling one of these ridiculously-clothed girls Ginny.

"Well...um..." Usagi started. Not even calm Professor Meioh seemed to know what to say.

"I'm sure this was planned! This is the second one tonight, and at the other end of the castle! The culprit's been assigned detention and whoever planned this...well, whatever you like to call this disturbance shall be as well!" McGonagall said, voice unusually high. Harry felt the very same way she did, confused and upset, and wished he were in a position to yell.

"There was another?" Chibiusa asked, not seeing how upset the deputy headmistress was. She turned to Usagi, "That would mean the final one awakened, right?"

"It would seem so." Professor Meioh said. She walked up to McGonagall, looking at her fellow teacher like, well, like Harry's Uncle Vernon would look at a wizard. "Where is she?"

"Whom?" McGonagall asked. "Professor, there is some serious explaining that-"

"The one you caught. We need to know." Michiru said.

"In Dumbledore's office, but-" She started.

"Thank you!" Chibiusa slipped out behind McGonagall. Harry could feel the confusion seeping out of Ron, who hadn't moved an inch.

"Go with her, would you? Take her with you as well." Rei instructed Hermione, motioning to Cho and Ginny. Hermione looked at her Professor, who made no move to stop her (yet glared at her with a thousand daggers) and followed Cho climbing out of the portrait hole, Ginny following awkwardly behind.

"Now will SOMEone please tell me what's going on here!" McGonagall exclaimed. She looked briefly at Harry, who did his very best to look confused, if he did not look so already. He did _not_ want to be caught up in this, but he already knew he would be.

"Perhaps we should ALL go to Dumbledore's office." Professor Meioh said, her calming voice having little to no effect on McGonagall. "You too, Harry, Ron. We need to explain everything, and I feel it is best if Dumbledore helps us out."

"And Professor Snape as well." McGonagall said to try to regain her charge.

"Is there any particular reason for that?" Minako spoke up. It was clear she, too, did not like the bitter potions professor.

"The incident happened in his House, when he was in there."McGonagall said, straightening up and leading the way out.

* * *

"I...I still don't understand." Ginny said. She was now de-transformed and very pale, sitting inside of Dumbledore's office. The older man had stepped out after the girls entered, going to fetch the final warrior (save for the mysterious sixth) from the other room. Chibiusa, aided by Hermione and Cho, had tried to explain as best they could what had happened. Chibiusa did most of the talking, the other two piping in when it came to how they felt as confused as she did.

"You're a soldier for justice in a legendary system of warriors. We supposedly gain our final member, who still hasn't awakened, on the Moon Kingdom of the present time and the first Five-Point star supposedly originated in the Moon Kingdom of the past. We also have one person somewhere who is able to give is strength for our big battle and there's some myth that someone will die because of it. I didn't really worry about that, because I know it will all work out." Chibiusa said.

"That is how I feel, too." Dumbledore said, re-entering the room with another person. The four looked at the fifth, and none of them could think of a single thing to say. Luckily, the door to the office opened right then and Professor McGonagall led the way, the office soon becoming very crowded very quickly. The newcomers, however, _did_ have something to say about the new Venus. This Venus, however, was not wearing the same shirt skirted outfit as the others...as this warrior was a male.

"Knew it." Rei said.

"W-What? Him?" Usagi exclaimed. Clearly, she had no same. Draco Malfoy did nothing but glare at the gawks and stares he was getting.

"Do you think I want to be in here any more than you?" He drawled, arms crossed firmly over his chest. His top was similar to a sailor top, separate from the pants which were baggy and white, elastic halting them around halfway down his legs, and his shoes were flat and white, very Chinese -like. The only thing not white on him was the orange symbol of Venus on his head in place of a tiara.

"Are you saying that Malfoy is one of you?" Harry asked.

"I am NOT letting Ginny into this...group thing or whatever with HIM!" Ron yelled.

"I don't mean to interrupt," Dumbledore said, the only one in the room smiling,though the smile was faint, "But it seems that the final of your new warriors has awakened just in time."

"Ah!" Usagi exclaimed. She was looking down at her hands, which were in front of her. Harry looked as well, and realized he could see right through them. All of the Mousetsu girls, except for Chibiusa and Professor Meioh, were now nothing more then a hologram of sorts.

In this chaos, Usagi, Ami, Rei, Makoto, and Minako began to sparkle and shine, and suddenly they were also in sailor uniforms, Usagi with large white wings, like the angel in his dream.

"Oh." Usagi said softly. "It's been two weeks." Before anyone could say anything else, a light flashed in what little space was left in the center if the room. Harry was suddenly hit with intense deja vu and it was if a memory had been unlocked - the woman that appeared was Cosmos, the same woman from his dream. All these girls, he had seen them in his dream.

"Well." Cosmos said quite calmly. She surveyed the room, from those who looked very confused, to the see-through warriors of justice, to Dumbledore who was smiling at the goddess's presence. "It seems like time has run out. But I feel before you depart, I owe your friends and your future warriors an explanation."


	10. I don't know what to think of you

Darkness and Light

Chapter 10

Updated as of 5/12/10

The previous chapter was short, this will probably be short as well. But soon, plot will roll on...heh, enjoy!

* * *

Cosmos waited until the last beam of light that came with her entrance disappeared to make her way through the crowd of people crammed in the office to the front of the room, in front of Professor Dumbledore's desk. The older man stood up to greet the silver-haired woman, dressed in all white in an outfit not unlike those of the girls in sailor uniforms. Somewhere in all this commotion, the door to the office opened, and Professor Snape entered. Those closest to him could hear him mutter something about "another one."

"Right. Firstly," Cosmos said, her voice smooth and regal, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am known as Cosmos. I guard the Cauldron and all the star seeds inside. Second, to those of you who I'm sure feel very confused right now, let me introduce my allies, _senshi_, or warriors, fighting for peace and justice. This," she motioned to Usagi, still translucent and taking up the most room with her wings, "is Eternal Sailor Moon, also known as Neo Queen Serenity of the future, Usagi Tsukino, or Princess Serenity of the Silver Millennium."

"You're Princess Serenity?" Ron exclaimed. "The same one who was here last year?"

"Well, reborn, but yeah." Usagi - Sailor Moon - said.

"Anyway, her daughter, Chibiusa," She motioned to Chibiusa, one of the few in the room who was not translucent, "or Eternal Sailor Chibi Moon, is from 30th century Crystal Tokyo. That is when they will all reawaken from the Cauldron. Now, to catch everyone up, Hermione has somehow been blessed with the powers of Mercury, making her Sailor Chibi Mercury; Cho has been given Rei's powers, making her Sailor Chibi Mars; Ginny has recently been given Makoto's powers, becoming Sailor Chibi Jupiter, and Draco has been given Venus's powers, making him," At this, Cosmos paused, she seemed to realize how feminine the foreign word "chibi" sounded. "Sailor Senshi Venus. At the time being, it appears that Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna, and Hotaru, or Uranus, Michiru, Pluto, and Saturn, the outer senshi, have not given up their powers in whatever time. And there is someone else in here is a warrior, depending on the way you look at it. I am talking, of course, about the reincarnate of the last King of the Moon Kingdom, Severus Snape."

There was no indication that she was lying about that last part, but to Harry, and he was sure to Ron as well, it all sounded like some bizarre dream. He had just learned of the existence of this Sailor Moon warrior, thought she was dead, then learned that his new friends not only were these sailor warriors, but his own girlfriend, his worst enemy, his best friend's sister, and his old flame had these weird powers as well? And Snape was a king? Harry actually did pinch himself, just to make sure.

"Cosmos, you're kidding, right?" Usagi asked. It seemed she didn't know about Snape, either.

"I see no humor in the identity of your true father." Cosmos replied. "But, I think this would save much time if we let them remember what happened last year." Cosmos opened her hand out so it was flat as if she was holding something. A ball of light similar to her entrance formed in her hand. It stretched in length until it was about six feet long; The light died away and a pure white staff laid in her hand.

"You'll all have to forgive us," Dumbledore said as Cosmos began muttering something. "We felt it would be best if time were return to normal, and had to alter and erase some of your memories from last year.

Cosmos gave the large staff a single, graceful wave. As a result, multi colored beams of light hit each person in the room gently, all except for herself, Snape, Chibiusa, Setsuna, and Dumbledore, as their memories had never been altered. After a few had hit each person, they continued to fly out of the wand, out under the crack between the door and the floor, and to all the other students and teachers in Hogwarts. After a few minutes, the beams slowed down and eventually stopped. Most of the room's occupants had a dazed look on his or her face. Harry had to shake his head to snap out of the feeling that had overcome him. Suddenly, his head felt a bit stuffy, like too much information had just been crammed in.

"...I...you all were here last year!" Hermione said suddenly. "You as the princesses, I mean...I thought we just knew you for a while, but..."

"We went to the ball on the moon and met Snape, though in his form of the past..." Harry continued, trying to sort through the memories in his head that had just been unlocked.

"But later these owls kept dropping letters that said; 'It's today!' and you five went and locked up the castle but took me, Hermione, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Draco to the moon to fight..." Cho recalled, her voice dreamy.

"We found out about Snape and..." Ginny said, "all those people screaming...the bloody fights between those...things-"

"_Youma_," Cosmos supplied. "Demons."

"And then," Sailor Moon said, "we died."

"But if we all died...Queen Serenity couldn't have had the power to-" Mercury was interrupted by Harry.

"Wait! We woke up here; Fawkes somehow brought us back to life."

"But how did you get here?" Chibiusa asked, curious as she was not remembering all of these things like everyone else. There was a moment of silence, then,

"Us! The _real _Five-Point Star of the future" Hermione said. "The only reason we didn't recognize it was that only Chibiusa- who we didn't know at the time- and me, I have blue hair when I transform, were in the room then! The other four were erasing the rest of the school's memory while we erased our own. And it was us who decided how we were going to remember things!...um, The princesses just stayed until Christmas, Harry and me would be-" She looked at Snape and decided otherwise. "Um, anyway, she said Cho should have some fun or something, Ginny would be prefect, Ron would get a life, Draco and would always love Rei, ("Chibiusa!" Rei exclaimed.) And that Snape wouldn't fail anyone who truly didn't fail...no, wait that's not what she said at first...she said something like...um..." She trailed off.

"Yes, Miss Granger?" Snape said quite coldly.

"Well...I...I _think _she said...that...um...you'd stop acting like, um, a git and...um, that was all." Hermione said slowly.

"What about the part where she said that thing about the-" Cho started.

"That's about the majority of it, yes." Cosmos said, smiling slightly.

"Oh," Ron said, "there was a part where Hotaru and Sirius were-"

"Please don't tell!" Saturn exclaimed.

"Now, now." Cosmos said, looking at her companions. "It seems we have overstayed. I shall be back later, though. I can elapse time in the Cauldron and here so it shall only seem like a second there while many months here. In that time, you shall be prepared for the greatest enemy you will have to face to date." She told them. "The Five-Point Star will not only find the last of their number, but also find their special person that belongs to them and gives them power, and, with any luck, prevent the death of the sixth member that has been set in time."

A portal of white light appeared behind the warriors. Those who were to sleep within the cauldron transformed, back from their uniforms to the plan white dresses that Harry remembered from his dream. It really was them.

"Thanks for thie wonderful time." Usagi said. "I guess it was kind of my wish that cause all this trouble here, but I'm so glad to have met you once again. I wanted to come back just to tell you thank you for what happened a thousand years ago." She stepped into the portal, trying to hide tears.

"May you always believe in yourself." Ami said before leaving, smiling wisely.

"Um," Rei said, looking at Draco. "I guess I kind of dreaded this day for more then one reason." It was very quick, but Harry saw Rei give the blonde boy a kiss before disappearing into the portal herself.

"See you later!" Makoto said cheerfully.

"Sure we'll meet again." Minako said.

"'Take care of Chibiusa," Hotaru said, mostly to Setsuna. Chibiusa smiled and gave her best friend's hands a squeeze before waving her frined off.

Haruka and Michiru said nothing to the group, but muttered something quietly to Setsuna. Michiru game the room a warm smile before leaving. Suddenly, the portal was gone, as were the girls, sans Chibiusa, Cosmos and Setsuna.

"And now that that's taken care of, Albus," Cosmos said, "I know it may seem a bit unconventional, but would you mind terribly if Setsuna and myself shared the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"Not at all," The older man said. "Though I might ask why, is something wrong?"

"Nothing more then normal," Setsuna replied.

"I have someone who is more then qualified to help me watch the Cauldron," Cosmos explained. "But the Time Gate is a bit more complicated matter, as it may sometimes seem there are many Sailor Plutos, there is indeed only one and she sadly cannot be everywhere at once."

"It wouldn't be often, sir." The tan woman smiled. "Just when it's important."

Harry could swear he heard Snape, who still remained against the wall, muttering something sarcastic about how he could take the position. The Boy Who Remained Confused tried hard not to laugh, and he was sure if Ron was still not so confused and upset over what had happened he would probably be suppressing snorts.

But to Harry, things were now a bit clearer. Not why his girlfriend was in a short skirt, or why Malfoy was a part of this team, but remembering the events from the previous year, he could put things a bit more in perspective. Last year, because of Voldemort's interference with Metallia, time got off its course, and the princesses from a millennium ago didn't do much to help. Usagi coming back this year probably threw things off again, and more then likely Voldemort was planning something to take advantage of this different sort of magic that now grew at Hogwarts.

With that thought, something else, snapped into Harry's mind. He turned to Hermione, standing awkwardly between the scowling Malfoy and the ethereal Cosmos. "The reason you've been gone so much lately is because you've been training, isn't it?" He asked her, things now becoming obvious. He now felt a bit bad for becoming so mad at her.

"Yes..." Hermione muttered, arms crossed firmly over her chest. "It's why I couldn't tell you, I'm so sorry, Harry..."

"It's okay," Harry said, nodding hard to try and make her believe that he really did forgive her. "If I were you, I'd want as much control of my power as I could get."

"Well said, Harry." Dumbledore smiled beneath his beard. "In fact, I've been contemplating-"

"No." Snape said firmly, making Chibiusa jump.

"Ah, I see it's a true test of how long we've been inside this castle together that you know exactly what I'm going to say before I say it, Severus," Dumbledore said cheerfully, avoiding the fact that the bitter man had vetoed whatever he had been contemplating. "Right, right then. Later on, perhaps."

"_No_." Snape repeated, now glaring.

"Oh, of course." Dumbledore said as if he had agreed to whatever it was. "Right. You girls have been using the empty classrooms on the sixth floor to hone your new powers, haven't you?"

"Yes, sir," Chibiusa said, pink hair bobbing up and down. "Although, with most of us gone, it'll be a bit harder. Fewer injuries, I guess."

"There is a secret passageway in the dungeon that leads to a room that I feel is much larger and much more equipped for your needs," Dumbledore said. "These are dangerous times. Voldemort has been holding back and lying in the shadows, but very soon there will be a war. And if those whom he will target are unprepared, then we might as well be waving a white flag right now. That's why I am _requiring_ you-" He looked at every single one of the students in the room, "To train together, both with the celestial magic you have been given to the magic you were born with, every other night at nine. Cosmos, I'm sure you and Setsuna wouldn't mind helping out when you are available, would you?"

"Not at all," Setsuna said. "I would be happy to."

"Indeed." Cosmos said. "On that note, please notify the Order of my arrival, I shall be wishing to attend a few meetings in the future and help plan, especially when it comes to the stubborn and inefficient mass what calls themselves the Ministry."

Cho and Draco looked at one another, clearly confused by what the Order was and if they should be offended by what she just said, as both their parents worked for the Ministry.

"Ah!" Hermione exclaimed suddenly, all eyes on her. She realized that she had caused a seen and blushed, but then looked to Harry and muttered, "We forgot about...you know..."

It took Harry a minute, but he realized that the "you know" was their appointment with Sirius that had been ruined. Harry wasn't sure if using the floo was actually against Hogwarts rules or not, but felt like it was something he shouldn't be discussing in front of the headmaster and Snape.

"Well," Cosmos said to break the sudden silence that had settled, "We've all had a very trying night and tomorrow is supposed to be the day of rest, so let us have at it, then."

"Um," Ginny muttered. "I'm still...not quite sure how I feel about this whole...warrior business," She said, looking at her attire. At this, Hermione pulled out her wand and gave it a flick, and in seconds she was back in her normal robes. The three who were new to the group demanded to know how to return to their normal garb.

"Go on, Harry, Ron," She told them. "I'll stay with them a bit longer, you get done what needs to be done,"

Harry nodded and he and Ron went for the stairs, bidding their headmaster a good night. Cosmos followed after them, taking slow, long strides down the stone stairs. Harry wasn't sure exactly where she was going, but found that she followed them every step of the way.

"Forgive the confusion," She said, brushing away some of her wispy hair. "I imagine this all comes as a shock for you. Something from a comic book, yes?"

"Yes." Ron muttered, quite gruffly. Harry was sure that he felt left out, though he wasn't sure why.

"It's just...a lot at once." Harry said. "Remembering an entire year all at once and finding out about this."

"You're not so different from them, Harry." Cosmos said, her voice quiet. "Your scar is the equivalence of our sailor costumes. You didn't ask for it, but there it is. People expect you to be something great and blame you for everything. And the people closest to you always get pushed aside, or are constantly threatened."

"She really knows how to compliment you," Ron muttered.

The woman followed them still, even climbed through the portrait hole behind them to the common room, which had already been cleaned and put back to order. Harry looked to Ron, who looked back at him and shrugged. Cosmos simply took a seat on a chair in a corner.

"Um," Harry started, not sure how to ask this of her. She did just say she was going to meet with the Order, but..."

"Please, do whatever activities you were meaning to do," She said, not looking at them. "Pretend I'm not here, as I really am not. Just do whatever it is."

The two looked at each other for a moment again before making their way to the fire. Harry, luckily, had a bit of floo powder leftover in his pockets from when he was at the Weasleys. He threw it into the fire and stuck his head in, realizing only seconds after he wasn't quite sure where Sirius was.

"Er, Sirius Black?" He spoke into the fire as if it were a telephone operator. The green fire swirled and twisted, nearly making him sick, but eventually it settled down until he found himself looking in a bleak room. Everything seemed to be peeling and he could see more then one bug under the couch. He heard voices in the distance and sure if he should call out or not.

"Did you find him?" He heard Ron ask behind him.

"Not sure," Harry said. The voices in the distance stopped, then he head footsteps. He was ready to pull out quickly when suddenly he saw Remus Lupin walking into the room. He stared at Harry, probably wondering if it was really him or not, then quickly got to his knees.

"Remus!" Harry exclaimed. He hadn't seen the man that often during the summer, he was often gone, but he was gone to the place that Sirius was, so hopefully his godfather would be there.

"Remus is there?" Ron asked behind him. Harry got shoved to the side and he saw Ron's head emerging from the green flames next to his.

"Harry, what is this?" The werewolf asked, looking a bit upset at his arrival.

"My head," Harry replied. "Is Sirius here?"

"How did you find this place? How did you know we were here?" Remus continued, not as happy to see the boys as they were.

"I just said Sirius's name," Harry said. He then realized, if he could do this, what was to stop anyone else from doing so and finding him?

"You're welcome," a quiet voice came from behind the two boys, Cosmos's voice. Harry wasn't quite sure what to make of her.

"Um, and we had help. But Sirius is here, isn't he?" Harry continued.

"Of course he's here, he tried contacting you earlier and damn near burnt his head off!" Remus sighed. "What happened?"

"A lot of things that I'm sure will be explained to you very soon, but...have you heard anything about Tonks?" Harry said very quickly.

Remus no longer looked upset, the emotion slid off his face very slowly. "Not a thing."

"Remus, I'm still bleeding here, don't leave me-" Sirius's voice rang from another room, loud footsteps drawing nearer quickly. The man himself came into view, a bandage here and there, mostly one around his hand that was very thick. He spotted the boys and dropped down quickly to their level. "Didn't want me calling earlier, did you?"

"Er, sorry," Harry said. "We'll explain later."

"So, you don't know anything?" Ron asked. Sirius knew immediately what they were talking of and shook his head.

"At this point I'm hoping she lost her memory, and she's just looking like someone else and that's why we can't seem to find her." Sirius said glumly.

"At least we know that the other side doesn't have her." Remus said, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"How do you know that?" Harry asked.

"Trust me," Sirius said, a dry laugh escaping his throat. "If they had her, they'd let us know."

* * *

A note at the end of the chapter! (I didn't want to spoil anything.)

-In later, unedited chapters, I called Draco something weird, not "Sailor Senshi Venus." Sorry if this causes confusion, but I'll obviously be changing it to this as I update, heh.


	11. A Little Annoying

Darkness and Light

Chapter 11

Updated as of 5/18/10

I love adding lots of new things to these old chapters...it makes me feel accomplished. Thanks, everyone, for sticking with me!

* * *

Hermione had stayed in Dumbledore's office for an hour, teaching her new comrades how to transform and de-transform. Cho had already heard the speech in this hospital wing, but listened intently. She and Chibiusa did their best to teach Ginny, Cho, and Draco how to draw out the celestial power from within.

Cosmos had left with Harry, but Setsuna had stayed, conversing quietly with both Dumbledore and Snape about something. Hermione couldn't help but keep looking at them from the corner of her eye, and wondered if they were discussing her.

Right as the group planned to leave, Cosmos came back in, looking a bit distraught. (Which was very odd for Hermione, as she seemed to only have one face)

"Very sorry to disrupt this," She said, "But I'm afraid I can't even leave the Cauldron for a bit without stirring up some sort of trouble."

Right as she said this, Hermione noticed Cho jerk back violently and let out a whimper of pain. She wasn't the only one; Draco let out a hiss and dug his nails into the flesh of his arm, trying to suppress showing more pain. It was the Dark Mark; Voldemort was summoning his followers.

"Oh, dear," Dumbledore muttered. "Here. Take the floo," He instructed Snape. Hermione realized that even though he did not look to the unsuspecting eye to be in pain, he was paler and didn't stand to his full height when he took the floo powder from the mantle. He beckoned Draco to him and the two left in a green burst. "Miss Weasley, if you wouldn't mind taking Cho to the infirmary, quickly..." Ginny, who looked very panicked, as she did not fully understand what was going on, jumped and rushed to Cho's aid, the two leaving instantly.

"Is there anything I can do?" Chibiusa asked, sounding much younger then she was.

"Go back to the common room, you and Miss Granger. Setsuna, if you would escort them..."

Hermione found herself being gently pushed by the older woman from the room and down the stairs.

"Why do we have to go back?" Chibiusa asked as Setsuna ushered them down the stairs so quickly that Hermione nearly tripped.

"It's dangerous," She said simply.

"Does Voldemort want something with me? With us?" The smaller girl asked as they made their way to the common room.

"Small Lady, you're a beautiful princess of the future with powers that Voldemort could only dream of having," Setsuna explained. "And unfortunately, Voldemort's dreams seem to be coming true lately, and not without a bit of bloodshed."

"He could kidnap us!" Chibiusa exclaimed. "He's...he's not like any creature I've ever fought before who's made from something else or can have a change of heart if we show him the right way...he's terrible...and he wants me?"

"Yes." Setsuna said, not hiding a thing. "He wants you and your power. But mostly, he wants you dead."

The young girl didn't say any more, not even when they returned to the Gryffindor common room and she headed up the stairs to the rooms. Setsuna surveyed the now-empty common room, noticing that it was now clean, and then nodded.

"Monday we will begin training." She told Hermione. "And if you recall, whenever we used a lot of our powers, last year, creatures led by Voldemort seemed to sneak in the castle, so if at all possible-"

"I'll only transform if it's an emergency." Hermione assured her. She looked at the tall woman. Smiling as she always did. "Um, Professor,"

"Call me Setsuna, and yes," She answered.

"I forgot a lot, obviously, at the end of last year...a lot about you and what you have to go through." Hermione said. She remembered earlier this year, getting so frustrated at Setsuna for always wearing that fake smile. Of course it was fake. How could it not be? " If I ever seemed hostile towards you this year, I'm so sorry...I forgot what you have to go through, how alone you have to be. I just didn't get why you were always smiling."

Setsuna smiled, but a real smile this time. "I have to. Or else my friends will be worried about me." She said. "I am indeed always alone. These brief free moments are indeed brief; usually in the night I return to the gate as myself from some other time leaves. Time is always on my mind. I must always stay alone,"

"But you're here now," Hermione said.

"Yes, and my mind is always uneasy because of it," Setsuna said. "But I have always wanted to fight alongside Sailor Moon, my hero, and to have something of a normal life. Though this is hard on me and my body, this is also fun."

"Wouldn't it be easier just to stay there?"

"Of course." Setsuna nodded. "But I have to protect Small Lady."

"Why is that?" Hermione asked honestly.

"She is the princess. She is the heir to the Moon Kingdom and the future ruler of the Silver Millennium and holder of the Silver Imperial Crystal. She is also the first person who came to me looking for me. I suppose she was my first friend." Setsuna explained. "She is the most precious human to me, so I have to protect her. She's why I'm always smiling, even if I've been standing by the gates of time for months on end."

"Time magic is so complicated, if you don't mind me saying," Hermione commented. Setsuna chuckled and agreed. "I used a Time Turner one year and that alone was so complicated."

"Time Turners are an invention of mine, uncredited of course." She told Hermione, who looked very in awe. "You know, I know some pretty useful spells that may come in handy, I can show you if you like."

"Really?" Hermione exclaimed.

"Yes, but Monday. Let us heed Cosmos's word and get some rest for tonight. I have a feeling that we may actually get a day of rest tomorrow." Setsuna said, smiling as always.

* * *

The green-haired woman sighed as she left the common room. The smile faded. A sigh escaped her lips. She was needed elsewhere. Time to trek downstairs. Again. She wouldn't dare try to get there from within the castle; who could say what sorts of evil would get in.

As she passed the entrance to Dumbledore's office, the gargoyle leapt aside and Cosmos left, looking a bit disoriented. Her head was to the floor and her mouth was parted slightly. She didn't even notice Setsuna at first.

Cosmos was even a mystery to Pluto. She was not supposed to exist. She called herself the "ultimate" Sailor Moon, but how Usagi would ever be Cosmos, she was not sure. She spoke of Chaos in a senshi form and of Chaos destroying everything, something terrible that Setsuna hoped would never come to pass. Cosmos said she had run away from her fears, something Usagi, too, would do, but...things still didn't add up. Was this Sailor Cosmos from another dimension? Just thinking about that gave her a headache.

"Oh," Cosmos looked up at Setsuna, who wasn't sure if Cosmos was all there or not. "My word, I'm weak."

Setsuna wasn't quite sure how to respond. If it were Usagi - her Usagi - she would do her best to cheer the blonde up, but she just could not associate this person with Usagi. She was detached and seemed to be a master in Legilimency - and used it without asking. And so Setsuna just gave a weak, "Why do you say that?"

Cosmos thought for a moment before coming up next to Setsuna, "Let's walk." Setsuna obliged - she did need to get outside the castle's spells so that she could leave this place. Cosmos followed her, hair buns bobbing.

"You know that Voldemort approached me at the Cauldron. He learned of its existence and of my existence, of course he would want that and the power of Chaos for himself. He came and he wanted to take this power, and I wouldn't let him, and this made him angry. He fought back." The woman let out a sigh, her breathing now coming quicker. "He was able to get past me, as evidenced by the youma being reborn and being sent here. He may be able to do this again at any time against my will, and there is little I can do to stop him as...well, he seems to have taken a part of myself inside him." As she spoke on, her voice sounded more and more crushed. "And that is why he could tell I left the Cauldron for good, and why he called a meeting of his little followers, to tell them such and to plan some sort of attack to try and tame the untamable Chaos..."

"How is that possible?" Setsuna exclaimed, turning to the shorter woman. Cosmos looked up at her, her cherry lips pressed firmly together, slanted eyes desperately looking for a friend. She looked like she wanted to cry, but couldn't.

"Because I am weak." Cosms said. Setsuna stared at her for clarification. And then, Cosmos broke down and told her.

* * *

_Fourteen people...no, now it was eight people._

_"Move!"_

_The wind behind him...a rock from the building hitting her...they wanted to all stay together but THEY split them up. Them...those creatures...or maybe not. Maybe they, like HER were forced or drawn in like a trap. Everything before him was one big joke, so it seemed._

_A familiar hand grabbing his...looking into her unusually white face - white with terror. Reassuring her. His friends, his reassurance, his salvation from that PLACE, dying before his eyes. Looking into her shining hues...enveloping her...embracing her...dying in her arms. And than waking up. Finding out it's all okay, that she's okay, that they can do it again. That he's not going to that place anymore. But why?_

_A figure appears in front of him. It's her. No, not the one he died with. Someone different. It's..._

_"I did it because I..."_

Harry woke up.

He had a very...fuzzy dream. He could barely remember anything, only the emotions that he had felt. He knew, however, that it took place on the moon, so it might have been the events of last year's battle. But the part with the other girl...he knew who she was, he just couldn't place it. He just met her but knew her for a while. It was an odd feeling of deja vu, yet not quite. With a sigh, he hoped these dreams wouldn't become a habit.

Harry went down the stairs to a quiet common room; It was only about six. But there was someone down there, laying on the couch. Cosmos, still in the white sailor garb from the night before. Her hair was draped over the pillows and her mouth was parted slightly, breathing heavily. She looked very at home on the small, worn couch, was that going to be her new bed for the rest of the term? And shouldn't she change out of that sailor outfit?

The events of last night slowly came back to him. Cosmos had arrived last night in Dumbledore's office, along with the dismissal of ten people. She came to take the senshi that were killed in the battle with Chaos back to the Cauldron. She came to help Hermione and the rest of the Five-Point Star find their aid...the person they were looking for to give them energy or something. At least that's as far as he knew. The leader of the Five-Point Star, Chibiusa, from the 30th century, stayed here to assist her team.

Someone else came down the stairs just then - Chibiusa. Her hair was down from its usual style and she was wearing light blue pajamas. She looked at the sleeping Cosmos very strangely, as if it was odd to see the older woman sleep.

"Huh." She said softly. "Morning, Harry."

"Good Morning," Harry said. "Is she, um, going to just stay there?"

"Maybe," Chibiusa shrugged. "To be honest I don't really know who she is."

"She's one of you, isn't she?" Harry asked. Last night, she looked like she was directing the show.

"She's one of us, but...well, not really." Chibiusa said. "It's kind of lonely now, without Usagi and everyone else."

Harry nodded though he thought things were more normal now. Well. As normal as they could be, under the circumstances.

"It's just, if she's sleeping in the sailor thing, doesn't it blow your cover?" Harry asked.

At this, Cosmos sat up suddenly, the two jumping at the movement.

"Well I wasn't sleeping at all." Cosmos said, sounding a bit upset that the two would think she was sleeping. Harry and Chibiusa looked at one another, not sure what to think. "Harry, I do believe that Professor Snape is in a rather foul mood today. Might not want to talk to him."

"Um...thank you." Said Harry. This woman seemed to be like an all knowing being, and that was what set him off the most.

"Last night's conversation and my time-consuming display got him a bit off spirit." Cosmos sighed. "He knows that I, rather we, will have use of him very soon and I imagine he didn't want to spend so much quality time with you all."

"As off spirit as he can be." Chibiusa murmured.

"Actually you're a bit mistaken." Said Cosmos. "In fact there was an instance in time when I saw him laughing with quite zeal. Then again, that was when someone switched his pumpkin juice for an alcoholic drink. Your father, I believe it was, Harry." Cosmos stood up and Harry had a flash of deja vu, from where he was not sure. "But right now I am here to assist you, Chibiusa, to find your aid. To be able to fully unlock the powers within and turn into a new form of senshi, you and everyone else, minus that sixth member of course, must find someone who they can draw their power from. It is the calm before the storm. Battle is approaching rapidly. And Harry," she said as he was slowly moving towards the stairs again, as this conversation did not matter to him, "you remember those dreams you had last year, don't you?"

"Yes," he said, wondering where this was going.

"You might be getting more of them. We all will." Cosmos said.

"Okay...but if I can ask, why do I keep having all these dreams?" Harry said. "Because I'm connected to Voldemort."

"Yes, that's one reason. You alone have these dreams from the scar you were given. You are connected to all mages in the word. It comes with the genre." Cosmos said.

"Genre?" Chibiusa and Harry said at the same time.

"Yes," she said pushing open the portrait. "The genre of magic." Cosmos left the room.

"She just...makes no sense and talks in circles!" Harry exclaimed once he knew Cosmos was really gone.

"It seems like it. She's not very Usagi at all." Chibiusa nodded. "But Harry, if you don't mind me asking, what sorts of dreams did you have last year?"

"I dreamt what Voldemort saw." He told her. "Maybe he knew I was watching or maybe he didn't, I don't know. Snape tried teaching us to block it out last year but I never really got the hang of it."

"What did you see him doing?" Chibiusa asked.

"Well...most of the dreams, he was in some dark room with Metallia and he was pretending that he was her servant, and there was a hoste there who took over the body of Queen Beryl-"

"A hoste?" Chibiusa interrupted. "But that's impossible, the only hostes that I know of attacked separately from Queen Beryl!" Chibiusa said.

"Well, I can't explain it...she did, Metallia, I mean, but I don't remember. Anyway, they were talking, Voldemort was trying to get another plot to kill me, and attacking Silver Millennium and things like that."

"Hm. But..." Chibiusa said. "They were useful, weren't they? You got to know what he was up to, like an advantage. I would think that it would be a bit horrible, though, having dreams that keep you up later but people wanting those dreams. I couldn't live with it."

"Yeah, people kept telling me not to have the dreams or to have them, and people kept arguing if Voldemort knew I was watching or not, and kept asking me if I'd had any more." Harry ranted a bit. "It did get a little annoying."

* * *

_"I-It is done, my Lord." Wormtail stuttered. He hobbled forth, limbs still sore from the last time his deeds had been punished. He tried to stable himself on the smooth cherrywood table, but Lucius Malfoy's bark of "get your filthy hand off that!" made him trip and fall onto the Indian rug, face to proverbial face with the Dark Lord's bare, ashen feet. _

_"My Lord, you know that I trust you and your judgement completely," Malfoy spoke softly, glaring at the flailing Wormtail from the corner of his steel eyes. "But what are you hoping to accomplish by awakening more of those - those warriors with other powers? Won't that only make it more difficult?"_

_"It will make it more difficult for my Death Eaters who are less than competent," Voldemort hissed, not at all harsh but rather more amused. "I need their power and I need these powers to be fully awakened before I can take it for myself." Voldemort looked from the heap of the man in front of him to the tall and proud man standing before the fire. "Lucius, I must commend you, you're taking this all very well."_

_Malfoy paused for a moment, not exactly sure what he was talking about. "Taking what, My Lord?"_

_"Ah, that's right, I believe it was only Severus and Bella that heard this news," Something that resembled a laugh escaped the Dark Lord's lips. "From what I can deduce, some time in the future, the original sailor warriors knew that I, in this time, would interfere with the normal stream of things ad try to fully summon Chaos. I believe they then sent their powers to the people that they trusted in a past life; this lifetime. They are people that they were close to and that are close to someone else with power."_

_"Someone else...Dumbledore?" Malfoy guessed. _

_Voldemort nodded and continued, "Now because of my, ah, little visits to the Cauldron, I have received some very privileged information, including just who these powers were given to. Who the little rabbit is taking sides with."_

_"That's great news, My Lord!" Malfoy said. "That will make it much easier to watch them until the time is right."_

_"Except that they are all in Hogwarts, under Dumbledore's watchful eye, yes." he Dark Lord sighed. "Would you like to know just who these illicit warriors are?"_

_Lucius noticed that the Dark Lord was smiling much too widely; he could count too many pointy teeth for this to be a good thing at all. _

_"Hermione Granger has been chosen; I believe you have heard of her." Voldemort started._

_"So the mudblood has some redeeming quality about her," Lucius laughed._

_"Cho Chang, the girl who I marked last year," He continued._

_"It won't be hard to cause her pain." Malfoy said._

_"Ginny Weasley, you work with her father, don't you?"_

_"One of Arthur's brats?" Lucius laughed. "You've got to be kidding me."_

_"Ah, and it seems like the last one...is Draco." Voldemort finished, smiling wide like he had just told the punchline to some great joke. Malfoy just stood there, staring at a spot in the wall, jaw tight and eyes cold. Wormtail, who had long since regained footing, looked on at the sight, wondering how this would end._

_"He will spy for us, then." Malfoy said after a moment. "Pretend to work with them and tell him what we need."_

_"That would be the plan, wouldn't it?" Voldemort said. "Only, somehow I fear your son doesn't see the same charm of the Death Eaters that drew you in so many years ago,"_

_"You-what?" Lucius wasn't sure what to say. "He...he's probably just having second thoughts...I mean, to be honest, I think we all had second thoughts, thoughts that went away as soon as we knew that we had chosen the right side-"_

_"Those weren't the thoughts racing through his head at the last gathering." Voldemort said, smile suddenly gone and his red eyes very cold. "You will show him the same, ah, charm, won't you? Convince him that my side is the only side?"_

_"Y-yes, My Lord," Malfoy said, bowing deeply. The Dark Lord had to laugh again, listening to the inner thoughts of the man who had once been so close to his side. This would be quite amusing. _

_"Excellent." Voldemort hissed. He then turned to Wormtail, completely blocking the blonde from his view. "Now, they are all nearly awakened. Each of them must draw power from someone close to fully awaken, and the only way to trigger this is by putting said person in danger."_

_"The first one's already set, My Lord," Wormtail said, trying to hide how pleased he was that h currently was higher up then Malfoy._

_"Very good, Wormtail."_

_

* * *

_

Chibiusa's eyes shot open and she gripped the bed sheets tight. So these were the dreams. So that was Voldemort.

She couldn't sleep, not after that. Did that really just happen? Did he really know everything? The small girl pulled on a nightrobe and went down the stairs to the common room, only to find Harry and Hermione there, along with Ginny. They all wore the same face that Chibiusa was sure she was making.

"We all just had the same dream, didn't we?"


	12. Family

Darkness and Light

Chapter 12

Updated as of 5/19/10

When I originally wrote this...this was the first chapter to come out after OoP did. So long ago! Of course, I slowly tried changing things so that they better fit in with those plots.

* * *

After they had all talked about the dream, confirming it was the very same one, Chibiusa, Ginny, and Hermione slowly returned to their bedrooms, to attempt sleep. Harry, however, could not.

He sat on the couch, staring into the fire for quite some time. They didn't say his name at all in the dream, how very odd. It was as if he was only a viewer in these events, it didn't circle around him anymore. How very odd.

Cosmos came in, sometime around two in the morning. She looked absolutely exhausted, her eyes were red, and her skin was paled. She nodded at Harry and then sat down in one of the big armchairs curling up into herself and resting her head on the arm.

"You know, I bet that Dumbledore would get you a room or at least a bed." Harry said, trying to make conversation. He figured asking a simple "what's wrong" would give him a very long answer.

"Thank you for the advice, it would be quite useful if I did sleep." Cosmos said, smiling a bit.

"You don't...I mean you can't...?" Harry asked.

"It's not the matter of 'can' and 'can't', as if I were of a separate species," Cosmos said in her always calm voice. Harry wondered if her voice ever changed with her emotions. Like a normal person. "It's a matter of will. I don't need to sleep, nor do I have a need or desire. But I can. And," she said looking him straight in the eyes, " I believe that you were going to ask me something else, yet another thought crossed your mind a bit subconsciously. May I ask why?"

Harry paused, not sure if he should mention it. "Sorry...but things-"

"Dreams, not things," Cosmos corrected.

"Okay, dreams and other things have been on my mind lately," Harry told her, "Plus...erm...people, including you, have seemed a bit...familiar."

And for the first time, Harry actually saw her looking surprised. For some reason, a part of him was glad that he had caught the strongest soldier, or witch, or whatever she was off guard.

"Familiar?" She said. No, her voice was still the same despite the surprised look on her face.

"It's nothing important!" Harry said as Cosmos got up. "But I saw you in a dream during summer break, in the cauldron with Usagi and them. That's all."

Cosmos looked down upon him and Harry had the vague feeling of being a little child stared down by an older sibling. And to his surprise, Cosmos smiled again.

"He's getting weaker." She muttered.

"He?" Harry asked. "Not Vol-"

"Not here, not here." Cosmos said, waving a hand. This, too, was familiar. "But...Harry?" She sat back down. Her head and eyes lowered. "Maybe you can help me out and clear my mind a bit. Answer me something. Do you have a family?"

"Er...well, my Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and Dudley, my cousin, are sort of family, even though I hate them, but Sirius Black is my godfather and he's more like family then any of them even though we're not related by blood."

"Is that all? Who else is close to you?" Cosmos asked. Harry paused before answering. She knew what he would say, didn't she, why was she asking?

"Well...the Weasleys, I guess..." He said. Cosmos looked at him as though she wanted more. "Er... Gryffindor?"

"What about relations to these people?" Cosmos asked.

"Well...none of the other Dursleys liked me...although there was this girl a year older than me who kept trying to get me to get married to her..."

"I meant the people you think are family, not the people you know." Cosmos said.

"Er...I guess...I think that the Weaslys have a big distant family, but I haven't really met any of them...and Sirius doesn't have any other family, I think, and-"

"Zero out of two. Though I'm not surprised." Cosmos said. "All pure blood families are interrelated somehow, did you know?"

"So Sirius and the Weasleys are related?" Harry asked, not quite sure where this was all going.

"Yes, as well as many others that they aren't as happy to have... The Lestranges, the Tonks', the Malfoys-"

"Malfoy? Sirius...Ron...they're all related to _them?_"

"Yes." Cosmos nodded. "And if you consider yourself related to Sirius, then one could say that you are related to the Malfoys.

"Okay...but why are you asking me all this?" Harry asked.

"I just need to know something. Your opinion." Cosmos said, very inquisitively. "One more thing, then, since you've caught onto me. Say Sirius and Hermione were related, and you just found out. Now, you love Hermione, right?"

"Y-Yeah..." Harry said, still quite confused.

"And even though you said Sirius is like family, you would still love her and not feel awkward going out with her, right?" Cosmos asked.

"Well, I don't see what the difference would be..." Harry said. He still didn't know why she was asking him all this.

"Excellent, Harry, thank you. I suggest you try and go back to sleep. Mondays are supposed to be hard, yes? I fear today will be hard on all of us, even those who aren't involved." Cosmos said. Harry stared at her for a second, waiting to see if any more confusion come come from her cherry lips before sighing and going back up the stairs.

Cosmos stared at where the boy had once been. She had a perfectly good reason for asking him all those things. And it didn't have a thing to do with senshi or the reason she was here. Sort of. Almost.

* * *

The great hall was abuzz with chatter the next day. When Cosmos appeared in Dumbledore's office on Saturday, she removed the memory modification charm from everyone that was affected. People suddenly remembered the attacks on the school, that the princesses could turn into a fighting form. They all realized that the students claiming to be from the ruined school Mousetsu were indeed those princesses! They were right there again, like nothing had happened.

The only quiet place in the room was a small section of the Gryffindor table, where those who had already been very well informed by Cosmos sat, discussing the night before.

"So you four all had the same dream?" Ron asked at breakfast. Chibiusa, Hermione, Harry and Ginny all nodded. Hermione had already asked Cho and Cho had asked Draco; they had had it as well.

"I know what you meant now, Harry." Chibiusa said.

"It really was You-Know-Who, wasn't it?" Ginny asked. Harry nodded. "And he knew about us! How could he know so much?"

"That scum, Wormtail, was with him." Hermione told Ron, both of them very displeased at this.

"And they're planning something?" Harry asked, not quite sure about everything.

"Something to..."awaken" our full power?" Hermione recalled. "He said that...the only way to trigger it was to put that person in danger."

"But You-Know-Who can't get in the school, can he?" Chibiusa asked. "Right?"

"What do you all have today?" Said someone above them. Cosmos had arrived, standing tall and not looking as worn as she did just a few hours ago. She was no longer wearing the uniform she had on earlier, but creamy white robes wrapped tightly around her body. Those students who had not already seen the tall and ethereal sight that was Cosmos gaped.

"I have Transfiguration!" Chibiusa said happily. "And then a whole bunch of boring classes - History of Magic and Potions."

"I only have Divination and Care of Magical Creatures today," Ginny recalled.

"Double potions," Ron answered for the sixth years (though Hermione had two more classes on Monday then the boys did). "Then after that, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts..."

"Oh?" Cosmos said only that before leaving the Gryffindor table. She then made her way to the head table and sat down in the seat usually reserved for Setsuna.

"She's teaching us?" Was murmured across the whole room as Professor Dumbledore stood up and confirmed that Professor Cosmos would be taking over the position for a bit.

"Oh, Setsuna already left?" Hermione said sadly. "She said she was going to teach me some uncommon magic.

"I didn't really think you liked her," Harry said, taking a bite of toast.

"I didn't, before." Hermione admitted.

"She has to come back, tonight, though!" Chibiusa said. She was referring to the training that Dumbledore had instructed them all to undergo, and Setsuna had definitely said she would be there.

* * *

Like many classes for sixth years, Defense Against the Dark Arts was shared by all who had passed their exams with high enough marks to continue on. As they all slowly filed in from wherever they had been, the students saw Cosmos in the front, still wrapped in white, holding a wand that seemed to be dripping with a thick fog.

"She's so pretty!" Lavender whispered to Parvati, who nodded eagerly.

When Harry and Ron had gotten in the room from their study period, what stuck out to them was not Cosmos, but Draco, sitting for once not in the back of the room and not sharing a table with Crabbe and Goyle, or any other Slytherin for that matter. Rather, he was at the front of the room in a desk for two, all by his lonesome. He looked pale and bruise-like marks were under his eyes.

Harry remembered, as he sat next to Hermione, that in the dream that he knew Draco had as well his own father had found out about the celestial powers he had been given, and that he was more then willing to fight against the Death Eaters. It was a very odd feeling, to be sorry for Draco, but Harry found himself not being able to help it. He was more then likely imagining his father and Voldemort swooping into the classroom any second to Crucio him to insanity.

"I wonder what he's thinking about." Hermione whispered to him, seeing him stare at the sullen boy. "I don't think any member of the Death Eaters has actually quit. Not for real."

"I don't think Voldemort will ever let him," Harry whispered back.

The clock on the wall suddenly snapped from ten minutes until ten to ten exactly, and Cosmos whirled around, facing her second class of the day.

"Please, settle down," Cosmos said. The students, most of them not knowing what to make of her but the girl who sits in the Gryffindor common room with unnaturally styled silver hair, obliged and stopped their chattering and faced the front of the room. "As you know, my name is Cosmos, but I'd prefer you either call me 'Professor' or 'Cosmos', not 'Professor Cosmos' as that is a very harsh sounding phrase indeed. Now could someone please tell me where Professor Meioh left-"

"What happened to Professor Meioh?" Neville asked. Setsuna had always been kind to Neville and never lost her patience, even when he couldn't complete the required spell in the entire period. "She was one of them, right? One of the sailor warriors? They all disappeared!"

"She'll only be gone for a bit," Cosmos said, staring at Neville as if she were trying to read his mind. "With the exception of Professor Meioh and another one of the girls posing as students from another school; they have all gone to rest and sleep until a time when the White Moon will rule over this earth peacefully."

"They were the princesses, weren't they?" Someone else asked. "The ones who came last year?"

"Not exactly, but yes." Cosmos nodded. "They came for the same reason as they did last year, but unfortunately were forced to leave."

"They came last year because the school was in danger, so they're just leaving now before they get the job done?" An irate Ravenclaw shouted.

"You see, Mr. Finley," Cosmos said, the boy jumping that she already knew his name, "That is, in fact, the entire point of this class and were you paying attention for the beginning of the term (which I see by your grades you did not) I don't think you'd be complaining when someone who wasn't even supposed to help was here."

"Professor, why were you just sitting in the common room for two days?" Dean asked suddenly. "Because...you know, if you need somewhere to stay-"

"Professor, can you teach me how to do my hair like that?" Lavender asked, earning herself a few odd looks and laughs from both sides of the room.

After answering as many questions as she could without revealing any more information (and assuring Lavender that her hair would need to be much longer before attempting to try that), the entire class, Slytherins included, could say that the class went much quicker than usual. With what little time they had left, Cosmos taught them what must have been the most powerful repelling spell they had ever seen. Instead of practicing it on one another as they normally would, they practiced on fruit against a wall that had been shielded by a huge white sheet. While most of the period was quite fun - making the fruit fly as forcefully as it could and staining the sheet with the splattered juices was quite satisfying and even a little silly - Cosmos ushered them to stop and stand back when they only had a few minutes left.

"Look at this wall." Cosmos said, gesturing at the painting made of fruit splatters the class had created. "This spell is not usually taught at Hogwarts, I should add. Now, then. You have all mastered it. It was a very simple spell, wasn't it? It didn't take anyone too long to learn it, right?"

No one, not even Neville, showed any sign that they had any difficulty with the spell. Harry thought about it, it did seem like a spell that should be taught to a younger level.

"Right. So easy a child could do it." Cosmos continued. "But imagine if this fruit was not fruit but rather just someone you weren't very fond of at that moment - and you used this spell just on a whim." She gestured again to the wall, where in Harry's head the orange splatters from a tangerine turned into bloodstains dripping down the wall, leading to a fallen, faceless witch. He cringed at the image. "There are three other spells that are like this. Ones that with just an ounce of malcontent feeling, even a child could complete the spell without fail. Can you think of which three spells I'm thinking of?"

"The Unforgivable Curses." Hermione answered methodically. The room seemed to grow much quieter.

"Very god, ten points to Gryffindor," Cosmos nodded. "Defense Against the Dark Arts is not just teaching you to block spells when you're caught alone in a dark alley. It's teaching you to defend against yourselves, and the urge to do what is easy instead of what is right."

"Professor," Finley, the same boy from earlier, spoke up. "If it's three in the morning and I'm lost in a forest and a Death Eater has me cornered, I don't think I'm really going to think about what's right and just kill him."

"Why on earth would you do that?" Cosmos asked. "If you're so untrained in Defense that all you can think to do in a situation is just eliminate the problem and be rid of it, then I'm not quite sure you're fit for the position as an Auror, that's what you want to do, isn't it?"

"Of course it is!" Finley retorted. "What's so wrong about it? They try to kill me, I kill them."

"Or," Cosmos nodded, not quite making eye contact with anyone, "he tried to kill you and you repel, stun, and trap him, call the real Aurors who know what they're doing, and have him tried in front of a crowd throwing rotting food at him. He is sentenced as guilty and sent to Azkaban where he is flogged daily and assaulted by his fellow inmates, most of which are more then twice his size. By killing him, you set him free. By catching him, the rest of his life is spent repenting."

Her voice had gotten progressively darker as she went on, something that did not go unnoticed by the class. Harry looked to Hermione, who looked quite alarmed.

"But, Professor," Parvati asked, "If it's not right to end a life why is it right to condemn a man instead of try and change him? Isn't that what, you know, the sailor warriors stand for? Finding the good in evil?"

"Well if they were dense enough to get caught-!" Cosmos suddenly shouted, her normally light eyes dark. She paused, looked around as if she had forgotten where she was for a second, then said in a very quiet voice, "Class dismissed."

No one took their time to talk or wander, everyone quickly gathered their things and left. Everyone except for Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Not on the boys' wishes, of course, but on Hermione's.

"Cosmos," Hermione said gently, approaching the woman. Cosmos had made her way back to the front of the room, behind the desk and was leaning against the wall, almost hunched over as if she were sick. As Hermione drew close, she realized she could hear Cosmos breathing and she didn't sound right. She was gasping with every breath, it was almost a mechanical sort of sound that chilled Hermione to the bone.

The older woman whipped around and Hermione found her wrists locked tightly in Cosmos's grip. But she did not have the same dark look that plagued her before the class, instead she looked almost scared.

"Let her go!" Ron shouted, both of the boys jumping up.

At that moment, the heavy wooden door to the class opened and Professor Snape walked in, pausing at the sight before him. Cosmos slowly released Hermione's arms and stepped back, the face of a scared little girl still on her face. "Go," She told the three in a whisper.

The trio obliged, and quickly at that.

"You okay?" Harry asked Hermione.

"Fine, but..." She waited until they shut the door behind them to pull out something long ad flesh colored from her bag.

"One of Fred and George's Extendable Ears?" Ron asked. "You just carry that around, do you?"

"They just shoved it on me to get me to try ad buy some so I shoved it in my bag, but that's not important." Hermione said, uncoiling it and putting one piece under the door. "Something wasn't right with Cosmos and I want to know what." It was lucky that the classroom was in a hallway, as the sight of three sixth-years crowding around an ear on a cord was more then suspicious.

"This really isn't like you-" Ron sharted, but he was quickly shushed by the other two.

"-and Setsuna said I should make this for you." Snape said. His shoes could be heard moving farther away from the door. "She and I agreed this would be the best thing to try."

"Is that why you're looking at me like that?" Cosmos snapped. "I don't want your sympathy...I can't believe she told you!"

"She didn't tell me." Snape said. "The Dark Lord did."

There was a pause that seemed to go on forever before Comsos spoke in a voice that was hard to hear through the wire, "He...he told you? He told his followers?"

"Only myself and one other." Snape said.

"And he laughed when he told you, didn't he?"

"Yes."

More pauses.

"I don't want this. Thank you for going to the trouble of making it." Cosmos said shortly.

"You know you are at the moment suffering from a textbook case of _denial_, don't you?" Snape said smoothly.

"It's not denial if I know I have a problem and I've told people," Cosmos retorted. Footsteps could be heard.

"It's denial if you're accepting it and refusing help - it took me eight straight hours to make this!" Snape growled. "What's the harm in just trying it?"

"Because Sailor Moon wouldn't have needed it!" Cosmos shouted. The three heard something fall over loudly. "She would find the strength from within and-"

"You don't believe that he took it!" Snape cried out. "You're just too stubborn to admit the switch!"

"Sailor Moon would-" Cosmos started again.

"You're not Sailor Moon!" Snape growled. "I don't care what sort of ultimate form you think you may be but your body and soul bear absolutely no resemblance! You don't understand the danger you are putting every single student in this school in by not doing anything about it!"

On the other end of the Extendable Ear there was a sudden loud, sharp noise that had the three jumping back and steadying themselves from falling over. After a moment to let their hearts stop beating so quickly, they returned to the Ear just in time to hear Cosmos, now sounding like her old, calm self.

"I'll see you tonight, then." She said as if nothing had happened.

The three quickly jumped back again, this time puling the Extendable Ear with them. Seconds later Snape left the room (and, Harry noticed, without any sort of potion), storming off towards the stairs and not seeing the three students crammed behind a decorative statue.

"Well." Harry said after a moment. "I didn't get a word of that."

"Right." Ron nodded. "Let's get some dinner before we have to do who-knows-what tonight."

"Wait!" Hermione hissed as the two boys rose to their feet. "Something's clearly wrong with her! Don't you want to find out-"

"Hermione, she looked like she was going to throttle you in there when you tried to ask before!" Ron exclaimed.

"He has a point." Harry said. "It's obvious she doesn't want to talk about it."

"I just...feel sorta bad..." Hermione started. Ron unexpectedly let out a huffing sort of noise (one Harry would have expected to come from the girl next to him) before starting to walk off towards the great hall.

"What's your problem?" Hermione asked, running after him.

"It's just getting a bit annoying with you always talking about those girls over and over and over-" Ron said, his voice now quite disgruntled. Hermione let out a huff and Harry was running, trying to catch up with the bickering pair.

"I already apologized for that!" Hermione exclaimed.

"To Harry, maybe, not to me!" Ron retorted.

"Well sorry for being worried about another human being!" Hermione cried. Harry decided that maybe not being able to catch up to them was indeed a good thing. "What is the matter with you, Ron?"

"Well, sorry, every now and then it's a little hard not to feel like this when I'm completely left out of everyone else's world!"

"Left out?" Hermione asked. "Is this about me and Harry? Last year you said-"

"I-It has nothing to do with that!" Ron said. "But now you and Ginny are off fighting evil and Harry's of course included because he's Harry-"

"I can't stop "being Harry" mate!" Harry yelled from a few feet back.

"And of course all of you are having these dreams-"

"You're jealous because we all had dreams about _Voldemort_?" Hermione exclaimed, causing Ron to wince not only at the Dark Lord's name but at the tone of her voice. "Dumbledore said you should train with us, so no, you _are _being included, and if you would like to be able to turn into some form where you're wearing a short skirt that covers next to nothing be my guest!" And that was the end of that; Hermione stormed off and Ron stood there, not sure of what to do, and Harry finally caught up with Ron and wasn't really sure who to be with at the moment.

"You're not really jealous that we're all having those dreams, are you?" Harry asked after a moment.

"It's not the dreams," Ron said. "But, look at me. Look at who I am and then look at everyone else around me and all the great things they have."

"Money's not everything," Harry replied, not quite sure what Ron meant.

"I don't mean what things they own," Ron said, seeming to get more upset, "But all my brothers are somewhere great in their lives and Ginny's getting really popular and she's great with magic, and now you and Ginny and Hermione have been sucked into this world of sailor warriors and a cauldron or whatever-"

"Ron, you have no idea how lucky you are that you're not expected to fight Voldemort!" Harry shouted. "You can't always be the hero in life, none of us wanted to be where we are in in the danger we're always in!"

"Maybe you didn't want it," Ron said, his eyes now reminding Harry of how Cosmos had looked only minutes ago, "But you sure play up to it." Ron walked off, not towards the Great Hall but back up the stairs, probably to the common room. Harry sighed; this definitely wasn't the first time Ron had felt overshadowed and was mad at Harry for it. Hopefully it wouldn't take them as long to make up as it did the previous times. What with everything that was happening, Harry really found Ron the only person to talk to.

* * *

Harry had joined Hermione at the table, and she was not at all surprised to hear Ron had stormed off.

"When is he going to grow up..." She kept muttering between sips of broth.

As the evening grew darker and many people had begun to leave the room, Cosmos approached those at the Gryffindor table and beckoned them with her. Behind her long, white cloak were Cho and Draco. Cho looked somewhat scared, while Draco, if possible, looked almost eager. Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Chibiusa got up and followed the tall woman from the Great Hall.

"Where is Ron?" She asked as she led them through the front doors and into the cool night air.

"I don't know if he's coming," Harry said after a moment. "We, er, got in a row earlier and I haven't seen him since."

"Shame," Cosmos muttered. Harry realized that she was leading them to the Quidditch pitch, which was fully lit, yet no houses were practicing.

"We're going to be practicing here, at nine, every other day." Cosmos told them, once she had stopped in the very center of the field. "If you practice here tonight, you are bound to secrecy. No one is to know about these lessons or what you learn, or any information you may learn. Is that clear?"

All of them nodded. Cosmos nodded as well and got out her wispy wand and began muttering something quietly as she flicked her wrist gently. Behind them, against the walls that divided the field and the first row of seats, several forms that looked to Harry like life-size voodoo dolls with sticks and wheels for legs sprouted from the ground. They were all twitching mildly, as if they were alive.

"When we practiced with Snape last year, he used these," Cho said, looking at the forms.

"Setsuna set them up, she said she couldn't make it tonight," Cosmos said.

"She's guarding the Time Gate?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, she's in no danger," Cosmos smiled slightly, knowing why Hermione asked. "Right then," Cosmos said, flicking her wand again. The dummies began rolling around, some slow and some fast, many of them coming at the group of students. "First, let's see what you've got. No transforming, no using planet powers, just use pure latin-based magic."

* * *

Two hours, several small explosions, and one small robe fire later, the group was exhausted. For two hours straight, Cosmos just wanted to see what they knew. At first, they could just blast the dummies back, but after a while they got more resilient and shot off small spells of their own. The six were all collapsed over on the grass, inhaling and exhaling deeply. Ginny had finished off the very last of them for good and Cosmos had finally told them that it was over.

"There's definitely a lot of work to be done, but you all have a strong foundation and are able to think quickly in a hostile situation." Cosmos nodded as she walked in a circle around the group. "But there is one final lesson that we are going to learn tonight, hopefully...one that requires a short walk. Come on now, up! Quickly!"

Chibiusa didn't even try to stifle her yawn. Harry assumed using so much normal magic (well, it was normal to Harry...) was uncommon to her. She had performed very well, though, even though for her level, she only knew a few spells that could knock back her targets.

The walk back to the castle seemed to take an eternity, but eventually, their still and tired legs reached the stone walls, and Cosmos continued walking, through a wooden door that led them all to the dungeons. Harry had a sinking feeling, and remembered the incident in Dumbledore's office when Cosmos tried to ask Snape for a favor. But, no it couldn't be...

...No, it was. Cosmos was knocking on Snape's office door, not noticing the air of dread that had swept over them as they remembered more of their unlocked memories from last year. Last year, Snape had been teaching them complicated magic much as Cosmos now was, but had also started teaching something called Occlumency. It was supposed to block others from reading your mind, but Harry was dreadful at it, and after two lessons of this Snape gave up and moved on to more physically damaging spells.

The door opened eventually to Snape, who took one look at the group of seven, and crossed his arms as if guarding something from view. He let out a sigh and looked to the ground for a moment before asking, "What do you want?" in a much darker tone then even Harry had heard before.

"I need you to start teaching Occlumency again. These six, along with one more, need the skills. You started before last year, so it shouldn't be hard to pick up from where you left off." Cosmos said.

"I told you two days ago no, the answer is still no!" Snape shouted. "If you're the most powerful witch alive, you teach them." That last line was spoken with a sneer on his face, and Harry had a thought that he was still upset about whatever had happened earlier that day with Cosmos in her classroom.

"You know you're the only one who can!" Cosmos exclaimed. "They all had a dream last night about Voldemort, one which I'm beginning to think he knew they would see."

Snape sighed again, looked at the doorframe, then at Draco. He sighed yet again before resolving, "Alright, but not tonight. Wednesday."

"Thank you, Severus." Cosmos said in a very sincere tone. "Right, then, I guess..." Cosmos started speaking to the group, but suddenly her face grew blank. "Chaos," she whispered.

"What?" Chibiusa explained.

"There is someone here who had a great darkness in their heart," Cosmos said. "I can feel Chaos's presence - it must have taken over-"

"Great darkness?" Ginny repeated. Harry, however, froze. He remember the way Ron had looked at him earlier. His eyes were dark and his voice was cold. No, no, it couldn't be...

"You can't deal with this now, get back to your houses this instance-!" Cosmos shouted. Snape drew his own wand from his robe and left the doorframe of his office, joining them in the hallway. Draco walked quickly further into the dungeon, while Cosmos and Snape led the way back to the other common rooms.

There were absolutely no candles flickering in the hallway, but only Cosmos kept her wand illuminated. Cho soon departed from the group, leaving only Gryffindor students left.

"It's getting closer..." Cosmos whispered. "My God, how could this have happened..."

"Now would be a perfect time to remind you of the potion still sitting on your desk, yes?" Snape muttered.

"Okay!" Cosmos hissed.

A chilling voice started to speak from nowhere.

_"Chaos..."_ It said. _"Chaos...I...need...again..."_

"What is this?" Hermione said, her voice barely a whisper.

_"Chaos...help me...find..."_

Cosmos's wand fell upon a form coming out them in the darkness. Everyone drew their wands, but as they crept closer, they saw it was only Ron. He looked like he was about to throw up, his face was almost green. He seemed to have cuts all around his face.

"Ron, what happened?" Ginny exclaimed.

"Get...away!" Ron gasped, coughing terribly.

_"Chaos...I...have...FOUND IT!" _

As soon as these words rang out into the corridors, a figure that seemed to be made of green, liquid wax shot out from the darkness, raised one of its appendages in the air, and thrust it deep inside of Ron's chest.


	13. Perception

Darkness and Light

Chapter 13

Updated as of 5/26/10 (almost my birthday, heh)

* * *

"Ron!" Ginny shrieked.

There was no blood, not that Harry could see. Ron was not struggling or screaming - he had passed out the second that the waxy creature had thrust part of itself in him. The creature pulled out something from within Ron's chest, it looked like some sort of spiky crystal.

"His pure heart!" Chibiusa exclaimed.

"What is it with these old tricks?" Cosmos growled. "Why is he resurrecting the dead?"

"Voldemort?" Hermione gasped. None of them could move; they were all frozen stiff at the sight. Snape and Cosmos stood guard in front of the students, wands extended.

"He'll die without it!" Ginny suddenly exclaimed. She charged forward, ducking under Snape's arm, and held up her wand, shouting, "Jupiter power!" It seemed to Harry like a light had flashed from within her body, but within seconds she was in the sailor uniform again, wand transformed into something that looked like a toy.

Next to him, Hermione held her wand up as well, and Chibiusa seemed to have something that would cause her to transform as well.

"No!" Cosmos shouted. "This is Ginny's battle. Ron is her aid who will unlock her powers!"

"Ron could die! We can't just stand here!" Said Hermione.

"Yes, he could die. Ginny hasn't had much training." Cosmos said, watching Ginny run forward. "But if she stepped out first, she must have some knowledge of what she's doing."

They (or most of them) all had doubt in Ginny. But if Cosmos trusted her, then they should, too. But then again, Hermione thought, wouldn't Cosmos technically be some Usagi from the future? And if so, Cosmos would have to be like Usagi in _some_ way, right? Hermione looked at Cosmos out of the corner of her eye, trying to remember that Cosmos was Cosmos, Usagi was Usagi, they're the same genetically, but very different!

"_Terra Intorqueo_!" A jumble of assorted earthy things came from Ginny's wand and sped towards the monster, although it seemed not to care. It just held up its hand and shot out a jet of fire much bigger than the cyclone attack. It went right through the leaves. And then it went right through Ginny, pushing her backwards and to the cold stone ground.

"Ginny!" Hermione and Harry ran forward to get the unconscious girl but identical fire shot in their direction, blasting both of the the untransformed senshi and Harry back onto the wall. Cosmos and Snape had blocked the attack with their own wands, but it had also thrown them back by about a foot. Harry had to remember how to breathe - all the air had been knocked out of him, as had all of his strength. He desperately wanted to leap up and save his friends but couldn't seem to remember how to work his legs. He tried to peer in between Snape and Cosmos for Ginny, but saw nothing but a limp, still form on the ground.

* * *

_I'm sorry, Ron. I tried to protect you. But I shouldn't have jumped out like that. The others can't transform, now. And I can't do anything about it, but hope that Cosmos or someone saved you and that you're all right. But look. Now you can get farther away from Percy when he's home. And you'll be back to being the youngest and getting more attention. Oh, yes, but Mum's pregnant again. But now we already have the extra room, right? Tell Mum and Dad and everyone I love them._

"And you call yourself a _sen-see _or whatever?" Someone said. It sounded almost like...but it couldn't be! "Open your eyes, already, you're not dead." The voice said. Ginny's eyes fluttered open to darkness, so dark she wasn't sure if she really had opened her eyes or if she was dreaming. There was a small light in the corner of her eye and she turned her entire body towards it. She realized in that moment she was floating in some sort of blackness, not wearing a thing but her own pale, freckled skin. The light she had found was some sort of energy, and inside was a very small and transparent Ron.

"Ron?" She exclaimed, a smile wide on her face. Then suddenly she curled up into herself, exclaiming only, "I'm naked!"

"You're my sister, Ginny, you were born in our kitchen." The smaller Ron said, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you okay?" Ginny asked, once she got over her embarrassment. "Did someone save you? Why are you so small?" She leaned close to the tiny Ron, who was wearing the same expression he wore when he was feeling a bit jealous.

"I don't know." Ron said. "I don't know where we are and what's going on. I don't get anything that happened this year, it's all a bunch of nonsense!"

"Huh." Ginny pouted.

"I don't get a bit of it and I feel like my friends are drifting away from me," said Ron. "But you can't give up just like that, Ginny. You have to stand up and fight!"

Ginny looked around the blackness she inhabited, her hair dreamily floating about. "I don't know how. I feel weak. I don't have enough power."

"Then take mine," Ron said, reaching out a tiny hand. With her index finger, Ginny touched Ron's hand and suddenly felt warmth wash over her, something so bright she had to clench her eyes shut.

* * *

Harry finally found the strength to get up - he helped Hermione and Chibiusa to their feet as soon as he was upright. Ron was still on the ground, waxy monster nearby with a boa of fire around it. But standing before the two was Ginny, head lolled back. It looked as if she wasn't quite conscious, but there was some sort of warmth coming from her body that Harry could feel from across the corridor, a warmth that seemed to make the creature draw back. In a flash, her hair had grown much longer and her garb had earned extra layers and poofs here and there. Where there was once a golden tiara, the green symbol of Jupiter shone proudly on her forehead.

Once the heat subsided, she was able to stand tall and straight, facing the creature without an ounce of fear on her face. She raised the plastic-covered wand and shouted, "_A__strum __Terra Intorqueo!"_

The creature that Voldemort had supposedly resurrected was at once gone in a brilliant flash of green and yellow, leaving only the crystal-like object that was Ron's pure heart behind. Both Harry and Hermione sprinted forward to Ron and Ginny's side, Chibiusa following after. Hermione knelt down quickly and brushed her hand over Ron's face.

"He's so cold!" Hermione gasped, her own face turning as pale as Ron's. Behind them, Ginny held Ron's pure heart carefully, only letting it go when it was right over the spot that the creature had snatched it from. It went inside his body seamlessly, and within seconds, Ron started to regain some color and his breathing was much more steady. Harry let out a breath he had been holding for quite some time, he was more then relieved to see his best friend moving.

"He'll be quite alright," Cosmos said quietly, standing above the five. "But we need to take him to the hospital wing and care for those gashes on his face." With that, she flicked her wand, causing Ron's body to float limply in the air before her. "Come, now..." She crooned, careful letting the floating Ron lead her down the stairs. The four students quickly followed after (Ginny de-transforming mid-step, a sight Harry thought he would never get used to), Harry glancing up at Snape as he passed the man. It took a moment, but he heard the clicking of Snape's boots following the group, leaving them when they reached the hospital wing.

Madame Pomfrey hurried the group in and got a bed set up for Ron. She quickly got a few potions down his throat and told them that they could only stay for thirty minutes before scurrying off to get another potion.

"What happened to me, Cosmos?" Ginny asked. Though she was no longer in the more elaborate costume, her hair was still much longer then it had been. "It was like I got knocked out, and I saw Ron, and-"

"He gave you his power, didn't he?" Cosmos asked in a quiet, almost sad tone. Ginny nodded quickly. "He was the one who held the key to unlock your true powers. You are now fully a sailor warrior."

Harry saw that Ginny looked quite astonished and the other two girls looked very pleased. He, on the other hand, was more concerned about something else.

"Cosmos, before, you said that Chaos had entered the school...and found someone with darkness in their heart." Harry said carefully. The three younger girls all knew where Harry was going. "So, Ron...Chaos tried to take over him? Earlier, when we were fighting, his eyes looked different, they went all dark."

Next to him, Hermione gasped slightly. To Harry, she whispered very quietly, "Like Cosmos's..."

"It would seem his anger and feelings, though they may have only been a childish fight, was enough for darkness to find him." Cosmos nodded. "It did not, however, truly posses him, for he had that bit of power within him to ward it off. However," She looked Ron's face, watched his breathing carefully. "Yet another of these creatures Voldemort resurrected has found its way within the castle. It seems those dreams you had were true."

"It was all planned!" Chibiusa exclaimed. "They attacked Ron so that Ginny's powers could be awakened - and they could take it! But...how did it get in the castle?"

"I'm not sure, Small Lady." Cosmos said, still transfixed on Ron.

"Setsuna left, didn't she?" Harry suggested, not wanting to stay quiet. "It seemed like whenever you all use your powers-"

"She always makes sure to go very far from the grounds before teleporting herself anywhere." Cosmos said quickly.

"...um." Hermione spoke up. "Could it be someone inside the castle is letting them in?"

"I don't know who." Cosmos said. "I can't sense an evil presence, now."

"Maybe they don't know they're doing it," Hermione said, staring at Cosmos as intently as Cosmos stared at Ron. Harry instantly knew what Hermione was suggesting - that dark flash in Cosmos's eyes earlier that day was just like Ron's...could it be she was possessed by Chaos?

Cosmos then turned to Harry and Hermione quickly, as if she had figured out what the two were saying. But before she could speak, Madame Pomfrey returned and poured another potion down Ron's throat, one that made the boy sputter and cough before finally opening his eyes and surveying his surroundings.

"Welcome back, Ron," Harry smiled, Hermione who sat behind him letting out a happy _hmmn_. Ron grinned back, it was like they never had a row.

"Great job, Ginny." Ron said, turning to his sister. "You did really great."

"You remember all of that?" She asked him.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Chibiusa exclaimed. "Both of you!"

Harry heard a noise come from behind him; he turned to see Comsos walking from the room, leaving them be.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Hermione asked him. Harry quickly turned back and told her it was nothing, before continuing to listen to Ron's very dramatic account of the whole event.

* * *

The office that was now shared by Setsuna and Cosmos was dimly lit by only the very last remains of a few candles. Both women sat inside; Setsuna, who had just returned from the time gate to learn of what had happened, and Cosmos who looked utterly...defeated.

"Harry and Hermione...I think they believe that Chaos is inside of _me_." Cosmos said, looking to the ground.

"Well," Setsuna said from her seat across the big, wooden desk. "I can see why they would think that."

"Rather annoying," Cosmos shrugged. "Rather perceptive."


	14. Dreaming

Darkness and Light

Chapter 14

Updated as of 6/21/10

* * *

Harry stared at Ron's clock. Nearly midnight and he couldn't sleep. Again. This was becoming an annoyingly common theme.

It had all come back to them - that they had learned Occlumency once before. Snape had told them on Monday that he would, reluctantly, resume teaching them Occlumency, to try and block Voldemort from entering their minds. On Tuesday, Cosmos had told them to try and remember everything they had learned, and to use it that night. Just clear your mind before you fall asleep.

Clearing one's mind was very hard, Harry thought, when there were so many things on his mind to get rid of, one of these things being Occlumency itself. Last year, lessons with Snape did not go very well at all and Harry was sure they would be equally awful this time around, and that the older man would know if Harry did or did not try this night. Those very thoughts, along with everything else, made it more and more hard to sleep, mind cleared or not. But he needed this sleep, he had two tests tomorrow and couldn't afford to sleep right through them, and after that lessons with Cosmos that would surely drain all the energy from him. Wy, why, why did he have to be involved in this?

The only comforting thought in all of this was that he was sure everyone else was feeling the same way, scared and unsure. Well, maybe not Draco, but still...

Harry rolled over quickly and decided to just forget all of it. Occlumency or not, he needed his sleep. He tried distracting his mind by remembering a rather complicated Quidditch formation, his mind letting a game go on inside his head until eventually the teenager was asleep.

* * *

_Harry was overlooking a living room...'overlooking' would have to be the best way to put it, as he was, more thoroughly put, suspended in midair in the corner of the room. None of the people, Harry was relieved to see, made no sign of acknowledgement that he had entered. It would be a bit odd to explain how he was just floating there suddenly. Had he fallen into a pensive?_

_Looking back on the people in the room, there were seven aside from him, and most of them looked very familiar. He spotted Sirius, his clothes clean and proper and his face smooth, sitting in a very laid-back manner on one of the chairs facing three of the others that were on the opposite side of him. On Sirius's right was a chair that held two people; The first was a woman slightly younger than Sirius with short black hair and alert, yet kind, blue eyes also staring at the people in front of her. On her lap was the second occupant of the chair, a five-year-old girl with unnaturally long lilac hair that flowed down just below the knees, the girl pulling strands out from under her that she had accidentally sat on. On Sirius's left in the other chair was a man with very neat and pressed back brown hair and round brown eyes to match. He too was looking and talking to the others, but Harry saw his eye dart to the shelves every now and then just to look more closely at the various magical instruments such as a sneakoscope, a broken remembrall, and an invisibility cloak...HIS invisibility cloak! _

_Harry looked at the final three, who were talking with the others. The first, a woman Sirius's age with red hair and green eyes, his eyes, wearing a kind smile, though with a bit of worry traced on her face. In her arms, she held a baby, dressed in red. The other had unkempt black hair, brown eyes, and wore glasses which looked like they were almost broken. His parents. Harry looked closely at the baby that Lily held, it was himself, not even a year old. If this was a pensive, he was very glad to fall into it._

_"How many agreed?" Sirius asked Lily and James._

_"McGonagall, of course..." Lily said, thinking. "Hagrid, Flitwick, Laykee...Binns said he'd rather not take sides as did some of the others...a few weren't there...and Severus - yes, James, that's his name, - said he'd get back to us." Harry didn't miss the look James had given Lily when she had said Snape's name._

_"A fair amount." Said the other woman. "At least no one just said no. What about Sybil, James?"_

_"Trelawny?" Harry's father said questioningly._

_"As much as we dread her," Said Sirius, a small smirk appearing and quickly disappearing onto his face, "she can be useful at times." James looked at Sirius, removed his glasses and wiped a bit of invisible sweat off his brow, and replaced them._

_"She said that we want to use her, just to know what moves the enemy is going to take, the old-"_

_"James," Lily said quickly, reminding him there were two small children in the room. Baby Harry laughed and cooed and babbled in her arms._

_Maybe, the unnoticed Harry thought, he might have met Trelawny before. Even Snape, he might have encountered all these people when he was a baby._

_"Andromeda," Said James, speaking to the dark haired woman next to Sirius, "How did it go by you?"_

_Harry recognized the name, Sirius had mentioned her once or twice, said she was a cousin or something of the like. The man sitting next to Sirius must have been her husband, then...which would make the small girl Nymphadora Tonks!_

_"Just as I expected." Andromeda said. "They didn't listen, didn't show me a sign of any hospitality, and then shoved me out."_

_"Well hopefully we won't need all these people." Her husband said._

_"You've got me!" The small Tonks said cheerfully. "When I grow up I'm going to be in the Order with you!" _

_Harry could assume that this was a makeshift meeting of the Order of the Phoenix. They continued talking for quite some time, but Harry wasn't really listening. He was observing everything carefully, recording it into his brain; His mother and her long red hair, how she smiled constantly, how his father and Sirius joked around with one another. It was perfect. _

_Eventually, Lily conjured up a tray of tea. Taking their glasses, the group drank and continued their conversation, though they were quickly running out of things to talk about. Sirius took that moment to clear his throat. Everyone's attention, even baby Harry's, was now on him._

_"I need to tell you all...Wormtail agreed." He said._

_"Agreed to do what, spy on Snivelly?" James asked._

_"...No." Sirius said, not smiling. Harry knew what was coming. "Agreed to be...well, really I forced...but agreed to be your Secret keeper." Someone, Harry didn't see who, dropped their glass. At this, baby Harry started crying. Lily handed him off to James, Lily then taking out her wand and cleaning the mess. Baby Harry was still crying._

_"Can I hold him?" Tonks piped up. Sirius, Andromeda, and Andromeda's husband looked a bit hesitant, but James handed him over. She took him and held him gently as if she was holding a bombshell, but carefully enough so he wouldn't fall. The girl slowly rocked him back and forth and he stopped crying._

_"It's okay." She said softly. "It'll be all right."_

_

* * *

_

Harry was right in thinking that he wasn't the only one who was scared. Hermione was tossing this way and that in her bed. Occlumency wasn't something one could read about and master, she hadn't fully gotten it last year. Also plaguing her mind was the thought that someone close to her would soon be attacked, all for the selfish reason of giving her power. Would it be Harry? And what if it didn't happen, and she never gained this other power? What if she really wasn't supposed to have earned the powers of Mercury, and it was all just a mistake?

Times like these when she felt like she couldn't go on, there was one thing she thought of, one reason she had to go on. It was such a blurry memory, she couldn't actually remember it well at all. As Hermione's mind went hazy and she drifted off to sleep, her subconscious seemed to unlock the memory from deep inside her.

* * *

_Four-year-old Hermione was in the London Underground, and quite alone at that. She had been here several times, but it was the day before Christmas and it was very busy and loud. She had gotten separated from her parents and older sister, Melantha, in the crowd. She knew you should stay where you are when lost, but it was hard, what with all the people bumping into her and the laughter and chatter that seemed to make her go crazy. She had seen three trains leave already. What if her family didn't realize she was gone until after they got onto the train? She realized that tears were blurring her vision, making it impossible to see. Hermione leaned against the barrier and sunk down, curling up into a cat-like ball._

_"What's your problem?" She heard someone ask her. She looked up into the face of a boy her age with flaming red hair._

_"W-What?" Hermione stuttered, wiping her face with her sleeve._

_"I said, whatsa matter." The boy said._

_"I...I don't know where my family is." She said. "I got lost and I don't know if the train left yet."_

_"Oh." The boy said. He thought for a minute._

_"Are you lost, too? You're alone." She asked._

_"What? Oh, no." He said. "If I get lost, mum can summon me...What time does your train leave?"_

_"Uh...2:00, I think." Said Hermione._

_The boy turned to the clock, but being only four, he could not tell time. He tilted his head slowly on his side, as if this would help. "Oi! Fred, George!" He called out. At this, identical twin boys ran up to them, accompanied by a little girl who was toddling behind._

_"Mummy said Wonny." She said in her childish voice. _

_"Not now, Ginny!" The boy dubbed 'Wonny' said. He turned to the twins. "What time is it?"_

_"1:30." The twins said after a second._

_"So it's not gone, yet." Hermione said, standing up. "Thank you, Fred, George, Wonny."_

_"Ron!" The boy exclaimed quickly, turning red._

_"Wass your name?" Ginny asked._

_"Hermione." She said. The twins blinked in unison._

_"Well, um, okay, Herminny." Fred, or maybe George, said._

_"It's Hernione." Ginny said._

_"Hermione." Ron said at the exact moment someone yelled, "'Mione!"_

_Hermione spun around to face a fourteen-year-old with long bushy brown hair tied back at the nape of her neck._

_"Melantha!" The four-year-old cried. The girl ran over to Hermione, bent down, and hugged her. Over her shoulder, Hermione saw her mother and father coming towards them._

_"Methe-what?" The twins said. They cocked their heads, turned around, and walked off towards a family of redheads, Ginny following._

_"And who's this?" Melantha asked her sister._

_"This is Ron. He made me feel better." Hermione said._

_"Well, thank you, Ron." Melantha said, smiling warmly. _

_"Yeah, thanks." Hermione said, beaming._

_"Er - okay?" Ron said, a little uncomfortable._

_"Ronald! Mum wants you over here!" One of the many redheads shouted. _

_"Well..." Hermione said. "Bye, I guess."_

_"Bye." Ron said, turning and running through the masses of people._

_"We were so worried about you!" Melantha exclaimed, squeezing her sister again. "Come on," She stood to her full height, turned around, and started walking in the direction of their parents. Hermione followed behind, everything happier, listening to the sounds of the people in the Underground. Now that she was no longer lost, it was all much more amusing._

_"The stations aren't open tomorrow?"..."Happy Christmas!"..."Put that wine away!"..."Are you SURE the stations aren't open tomorrow?"..."One forty-five, now boarding! Hurry, hurry, trains leaving any second!"..."I found the back to my earring!"..."One forty-five, about to leave!"..."Move it, kid!"_

_With that last gruff yell, someone ran right into Hermione, making her stumble and fall down into the tracks. All the wind had left her and her back and legs were screaming with pain. Distantly, she heard Melantha shout her name. Maybe she would rescue her. It seemed no one else realized she was there. Hermione coughed and tried desperately to get up but that only put black spots in front of her eyes._

_Suddenly, someone had her wrist and seemed to throw her right into the barrier. And then there was a sickening sound, one she could never forget. This was followed by gasps, shrieks, and her mother calling in a choky voice, "Melantha!"_

_Hermione did not have to see it to know what just happened. Her sister had just given her life for her. She could see now, but she was still dizzy and sick, she wanted to throw up. Slowly, she turned her head to look at the train that was quickly stopping as about five guards came running and shouting towards couldn't see anything but blood that had splattered along the tracks. the tracks. It was all becoming blurry again. Tears came pouring out and a burning lump formed itself in her throat, she couldn't stop crying even if she tried. Everything was just a blurred mess of browns and blacks, and the vibrant red that was Ron's hair coming closer to her. _

_"Hermione...I..."_

_But Hermione threw herself against him before he could get the rest out. He didn't really know what to do, so he put his arms around her, letting her sob onto him._

_

* * *

_

Chibiusa may have been the only one who was getting a bit better sleep then the rest of them. She already had unlocked her powers, from the strength her friends and family had given her. But still, she was nervous about what was to come. In the past, she battled alongside Sailor Moon and her friends. They were always there to defeat anything that came their way. And now, she had Pluto and Cosmos, and her new friends who were only still learning. She missed her mother and father terribly.

She was the leader of these new warriors. What if she wasn't strong enough? Always, Chibiusa felt this way, having to compare herself to Sailor Moon. But now that she was alone, she didn't know if she could defeat these enemies.

* * *

_It was a feeling...pain, sadness...It wasn't like her!_

_"Chibi Moon!" Her friends called after her._

_Nothing would change no matter how far she ran._

_It hurts._

_'Maiden...it felt so good when he called me that.' She thought to herself._

_But there's no way._

_"I'm too tiny and powerless!"_

_She had yelled this aloud, and at that, there was a soft 'ring' as the bell fell. And then he appeared. Beautiful, white and magnificent, Helios. _

_"Helios...will there be a day when I am needed, too?"_

_Even in her head, it sounded silly._

_"I hope...my dreams will come true one day."_

_And then he appeared in his full form, stretching out his magnificent wings. He wiped away her tears as he nuzzled her face, then kissed her. But it wasn't him. It was a man with whitish-blue hair, the horn identical to the Pegasus's in the middle, in an elaborate costume._

_"Don't cry little maiden. You are always needed. There is love all around you."_

_She felt her face turning red._

_"This is my limit. I can't stay this way any longer. Little maiden, I'll come see you again. So don't cry..."_

_

* * *

_

Ginny, Cho, and Draco, however were not having any dreams at all.

Ginny had used up most of her energy by fighting the creature that attacked Ron. As soon as her head hit the pillow that night, she was out and didn't remember anything even if she had dreamed.

Cho was down in her common room, studying for a test she had the next day, and studying harder then she had in quite some time. During the Quidditch match where she had turned into Sailor Chibi Mars, Draco had sneaked into the changing tent when she had fainted. He had a vial in his hand that he said Setsuna had given him.

"It makes it not hurt all the time," He told her in a hushed tone. "Some moon-cure thing."

Cho was, of course, reluctant to trust it, but it did indeed really work. Every now and then it would still hurt suddenly, and if the Dark Lord _wanted_ it to hurt then it definitely would, but for the most time it was like it wasn't there, and Snape now was making it for the two students regularly. She could concentrate on things much better and was able to laugh again. She took one vial every other day, and life was almost normal. Her decision not to sleep that night was not related to Occlumency or troubling thoughts, but because, for the first time in her life, she really enjoyed studying in peace.

Draco, on the other hand, was indeed having troubling thoughts. He had to admit it to himself, but he was scared.

Though Snape was regularly giving he and Cho a potion to ease the pain of the Dark Mark, it no longer seemed to work on Draco. He tried taking more then one dose, that only made his stomach ill.

The members of the Five-Point star had a dream, one that was very much real. His father had found out that he was a part of the group of warriors that was fighting against him, and the Dark Lord had found out that he no longer wanted anything to do with the Death Eaters. He told his father to _make_ him want to be a full-fledged Death Eater again. And that was what scared him.

More then once, he thought he saw his father's face among the students at school. Earlier that day, Professor Snape called him into his office. He showed him a crumpled, brown package that sat smoldering on his desk, and told him that his own aunt Bellatrix had tried to send him the package which was covered in a corrosive potion.

"The Dark Lord has indeed told me that Lucius is planning something," Snape told him in hushed tone. "I don't know what it is, but...he's almost boasting about how he's disowned you." For once, Draco couldn't quite read the expression on Snape's face. He almost looked concerned, like these words would greatly hurt him.

"I've disliked everything about my father for quite some time," Draco told him. "He's slept with other women and didn't even try to hide it. I don't care if he's disowned me, I don't want to be his son. But...his power..."

"Lucius does indeed possess great magical ability as well as having his hand deep in politics." Snape nodded. "But I do not think he will try anything within the castle. He fears Dumbledore greatly."

"I have to leave sometime." Draco mumbled.

"...I'll make sure you're kept safe." Snape said, after a bit of reluctance.

"And my mother?" The boy asked. "She just puts up with the yelling and the abuse because she's afraid to be shamed-"

"I'll make sure." Snape nodded. "Even if the two of you stay at my manor this summer, I'll make sure."

* * *

Harry was almost pleased to see that Hermione and Chibiusa both looked tired when he entered the Great Hall the next morning. At least he wasn't alone. He sat down in between the two, looking across from him at the empty seat where Ron usually sat.

"He's supposed to be out later today," Hermione told him, knowing exactly what he was thinking.

"And we were supposed to be preventing dreams." Chibiusa mumbled sighing loudly.

"Did you have weird dreams, too?" Harry asked.

"Well...it wasn't really a dream..." Hermione said, placing a finger to her lip. "Or at least not mine. It was more of a memory. A memory I didn't know I still had."

"Mine too, but there's no way I could've remembered it, I was too little. It was just like I was watching it." Harry told them. Ginny had come in then and took Ron's empty seat.

"So was mine!" Hermione said.

"Mine was a memory that only happened a few years ago," Chibiusa said. "Ginny, did you have a dream last night?"

"No, I passed out right when I got into bed," Ginny said with a small smile. She sat up straighter and looked through the sea of black for someone.

"Well, you did use your new powers yesterday for the first time," Hermione said. "I bet it takes a toll on you."

"Maybe that's it..." Ginny said, not really listening. "Where's Malfoy?"

"Why?" Harry asked, wondering what Ginny would want with him.

"Well, what with that dream we had before with his father...he's seemed really out of it lately..." Ginny explained much too quickly. He and Hermione shared a glance, it was like she was hiding something.

"Oh, look!" Hermione exclaimed, Harry quickly forgetting all about Ginny's current wondering about Malfoy. The brunette was pointing at the head table, where not only Cosmos was sitting, but Setsuna as well.

"That's good." Chibiusa said. "I was getting worried."

"Wasn't she only at the time gate?" Harry asked. Chibiusa started and looked down, as if she had said something she shouldn't have.

"Well, you know..." She said, looking at her empty plate, "What with everything that's going on, I just hate how she's always alone...and if anyone were to try and attack her..." She trailed off. Harry was suddenly very glad that he was always surrounded by friends when inside of Hogwarts's walls.

Ron did indeed get released from the Hospital Wing later that day, but was told to go back to his own bed and rest, an order he gladly followed. At supper, he ate everything in sight, saying how dreadful the food was in there. Ginny looked like she might be sick just watching him.

He joined them for their second lesson with both Cosmos and Setsuna on the pitch, a lesson that Malfoy was noticeably absent from. Cosmos continued on, though, and set up that evening's lesson: patronuses. Harry had already mastered the complicated spell in his third year, so he helped teach alongside the two older women. Chibiusa was actually the first one to have an actual form come from her wand rather then just light. A small white rabbit hopped around her, the small girl giggling.

Hours later, they headed to Snape's office, where he invited them in, though not without a bit of hesitation and a snide remark of, "You're late."

Cosmos led the group in to the office, which was much more spacious then usual. The desk had been pushed to the wall and there were no chairs to be seen.

"And where is Draco?" Snape asked in a quiet voice, looking at Harry from the corner of his eye.

"I didn't see him earlier today." Cosmos said. "If he didn't want to come today-"

"No, I believe he needs to be here for _this_ part of the lesson," Snape said. Harry could tell from his tone that Snape thought whatever he could teach was infinitely more valuable then anything Cosmos could.

"Well, one moment, then," Cosmos said. She held her wand up in the air and muttered something, her eyes twitching slightly. She then left, promising to be back in a few minutes.

"While we wait," Setsuna said, trying to break the very present uncomfortable mood in the air, "Shall we see what you remember?"

Harry dearly wished they had just stood around and talked about the weather instead. Snape, thankfully, said he would wait until everyone was present to actually begin teaching, but it didn't stop Setsuna. It seemed none of them remembered a thing about Occlumency, and each one of them was sent stumbling back as she penetrated their minds. Harry wasn't sure what was worse; seeing the scowl that he expected from Snape when he invaded his mind, or seeing Setsuna's smile waver only slightly. He felt like he let her down in a way.

Draco came in later, being gently shoved by Cosmos. "Mister Malfoy, these lessons may not be on your schedule but they are in no way optional. Twenty points from Slytherin, and detention with Professor Snape tomorrow night."

"What authority do you have to give him detention with me? _You're_ the one who assigned this group." Snape said, raising an eyebrow. Harry nearly gasped, that black flash entered Cosmos's eyes yet again. She pulled out her silvery wand from her robe and held it before her face.

"Do you see this wand? Do you know what it's made of? It is Moonwood filled with the souls of those who, when sent into the Galaxy Cauldron, did not want to be reborn, and it is covered by the silver blood of those ghosts who have only chosen to become one to protect the ones they love. _That_ is my authority."

No one was quite sure how to respond or act, even Snape looked a bit dumbfounded, though that was probably due to the wand right in his face. Setsuna stepped forward and places a hand on Cosmos's shoulder, causing the silver-haired woman to startle. She looked here and there for a second before returning her wand to her cloak. Harry, Ron, and Hermione shared a look. Was Chaos really inside of her?

"Now, on with Occlumency..." She said very quietly, moving into a corner to let Snape talk.

Bth Snape and Setsuna went about using the powerful "_Legilimens_" spell upon them, and continue to prove that Occlumency was not something that would be mastered that night. As time went on, the group only got more and more frustrated and Snape's comments more and more snide. Harry got so fed up at one point that he, without thinking, used the spell upon Snape and saw a glimmer of a very unpleasant memory from the older man's life. Harry wasn't quite sure what to do, he stuttered an apology of some sorts but the look Snape gave him was quite terrifying.

But two very powerful witches were in the room, and Harry was spared from being torn limb from limb. As amusing as it was for Snape to constantly insult and criticize him, Harry was sent to practice with Setsuna, and Malfoy was called over.

He looked more confident when he stood opposite of Snape, but Harry saw that, after a second of looking paralyzed, Malfoy too was shot back roughly, colliding with the wall.

"Um, what is it exactly that everyone's having problems with?" Setsuna said as sweetly as possible. It was quite obvious that she too was getting a little irritated.

"Well, _how_ do we block our minds?" Ginny asked simply. "And even if we did, what would happen?"

"Look," Cosmos said. She got up and took Hermione's place in front of Setsuna. "Go ahead," she told her friend.

"_Legilimens!_" Setsuna exclaimed. It seemed to hit Cosmos in the very same way it hit the others; she closed her eyes slowly and seemed to be concentrating. After a second, the spell repelled itself from her and went right back to Setsuna, whose eyes were also closed. What seemed like strands of thread were going in between the two.

"This is what happens. It's impenetrable, for now." Cosmos said very calmly, keeping her concentration. "But usually the person trying to invade one's mind is not expecting their spell to be repelled...in which case..." Cosmos opened her eyes and the full power of the spell hit her, causing her to stumble back. "Now, shall we continue?"


	15. The Door Cracks Open

Darkness and Light

Chapter 15

Updated as of 6/23/10

A new character cometh...dun dun dun :3

* * *

It seemed like an eternity ago that Setsuna had gone to Snape's office when he fell ill. And what with everything that had happened, the green haired woman had almost forgotten the incident completely, not until after the first Occlumency lesson, when the group exited the office. Setsuna was the last one out and turned to bid her colleague a good night. To her and her only, Snape did not give her a harsh or satyrical glare of any sorts. She thought back, what could have caused this show of kindness (for a man with a past like his, that was indeed kind)? And then she recalled what had happened. Thinking back about the conversation that they had, something stuck out in her mind, something she had meant to look into, but had gotten sidetracked.

Snape had mentioned, though upset and sick while doing so, that Queen Serenity might have had another heir. He said that he believed that when she sent the reincarnations of her people down to earth, a little fragment of herself was unknowingly transferred into someone else, and this someone had a child.

She had not inquired at the time who it was, for Snape had passed out from exhaustion at that point. But as he gave her the not-very-terrible look and this thought passed through her head, she stopped, told the others to leave without her, and asked.

"...You think so?" Was her reaction to the child's name.

"I'm quite sure." He said.

"Do you think...the last member of the Five-Point Star...?" She asked, looking to the ground.

"It would be someone in the group other then Tsukino who has the lunar line in them, in one form or another." He said. "I can't be sure yet. But I wouldn't doubt it."

* * *

"_Legilimens!"_

Ginny was so exhausted from the past week's practices that she collided into a bookshelf. No one had really improved much in Occlumency since the first day, not even Hermione (which frustrated her to the core).

"Isn't Cosmos supposed to be this great mind-reader?" Ron whispered to Harry. "Why doesn't she teach us? I have a feeling we'd be colliding into less walls."

"Chang." Snape's cold voice rang out. With a silent sigh, the raven-haired girl stood before Snape. Harry could tell she wasn't even trying anymore. Cho had, however, improved in combat, once she began receiving a potion from Snape that blocked the pain of the Dark Mark on her arm - unless there was a summons, of course. However, Harry noticed that her face was unusually pale, pale like it was a few months ago...

"_Legili-" _Snape stopped. His wand was still pointed at Cho, but his eyes widened. It happened to all three of them at once, as if they were controlled by a puppet master who just had a fit; Snape clutched his arm and, as if someone was pushing him, collided into the wall, while both Cho and Draco collapsed to the ground, the former letting out the weakest scream.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed in horror. "He's being summoned again!"

Harry was sure Hermione had just said something, was tugging on his arm in fact, but as he watched the three fall to the ground, his own legs felt very weak, a sensation which travelled up his spine, through his shoulders, and finally climaxed at his scar. His vision blackened for a few seconds and he found himself losing balance. A few pairs of arms grasped him from either side, steadying him. Someone was right in front of him, muttering something.

"...must be time." Setsuna finished. Harry blinked a few times and realized he could see again. Setsuna was knelt before him, looking at his eyes and, of course, at his scar.

"Setsuna," Cosmos instructed as she helped Cho up from the ground. "Make sure they get back to their common rooms safely. I'll assist Severus. Draco," She turned to the blonde boy who was being helped by Ginny, "Please tell me you're not thinking of going,"

"I think I would die before I finished going through the floo if I did," He said weakly.

"Listen," The silver haired woman said before the group could get out the door, "Clearly Voldemort is strong tonight, I fear that he will attack another one of you to awaken your powers. I don't doubt that you will defeat this enemy, but..." She looked then to Ron, who looked back in surprise, quite baffled by the entire scene. "I do not yet know how he is getting in, and he may try to corrupt you all again if there is darkness in your hearts."

"Let's go," Setsuna urged them, making sure all of them were out the door before closing it firmly. Draco stumbled down the hall to his own common room, leaving the others to repeat what had happened only days ago, running up stairs and through halls to the Ravenclaw common room.

"I can't..." Cho cried, suddenly stopping and clutching her sides. "It's worse then normal, I can't go on-"

"I know it hurts but you have to get back to where it's safe!" Setsuna doubled back and helped the girl up. "Almost there, come on..."

Chibiusa stopped in her tracks as well, staring blankly ahead.

"Small lady-!" Setsuna exclaimed.

"Something's up there!" The pink haired girl pointed straight ahead. "Dark energy, I can feel it!"

"Chibiusa..." The older woman muttered.

There were slow footsteps ahead, coming from the hallway where the Ravenclaw common room was. Fifth-year Luna Lovegood came stumbling out, her face pale and purpled, just like Ron's had been.

"Not Luna!" Cho exclaimed, leaping forward. A similar waxy-covered being shot from inside of the blonde, taking the shining pure heart from within her.

"Save her!" Setsuna shouted. "This is your battle!"

The other six were blasted back with wind as Cho quickly transformed. Her battle with the creature was not nearly as long or nerve-wracking as Ginny's was. Even though the Dark Mark must have been nearly burning her arm to a crisp at that moment, she charged forward and with a burst of fiery heat summoned a new attack, "_Incendia usquequaque!_" And that was the end of that. Cho returned the pure heart to her close friend, quickly de-transforming before Luna woke up, but not without her costume briefly shining and taking a new form, one with more layers and ribbons.

"She does indeed have the spirit of Mars," Setsuna mumbled, getting up and checking on Luna.

"Rei would be just as hasty," Chibiusa murmured with a smile.

* * *

Setsuna had brought Luna to the Hospital Wing, leaving the others to get back to their common rooms safely. Luckily, no one was awake when the five returned.

"Chibiusa, can I ask you something?" Ginny asked. "How did you know that Luna was there before any of us saw her?"

"I don't know," The small girl replied, putting a finger to her lip. "I just...felt this terrible darkness. I've never been able to sense evil like that."

"Maybe you're awakening other powers, too," Hermione suggested. "Could Sailor Moon sense evil?"

"Sometimes," Chibiusa thought. "Tuxedo Kamen...my dad...he's actually much better with those things."

"And it's all gone now, right?" Ginny asked. "The darkness?"

Chibiusa didn't answer. Not a good sign at all, Harry thought.

Chibiusa and Ginny headed for their beds, leaving the sixth-years to themselves. As they threw themselves on various couches and chairs, the shock of Cho unlocking her powers and the Death Eater meeting wore off, and they all realized how tired and sore they were.

"Snape seemed really affected by Voldemort's summons," Harry said. He meant it, too, he had seen the man summoned before, but never had he lost control like that before, especially in front of a group of people he despised.

"And your scar hurt really badly, didn't it?" Hermione asked. "It hasn't hurt like that in a while, has it?"

"No," Harry lied. It had hurt him, ever since the beginning of the term, but for the most part he had kept silent about it so as not to worry his girlfriend. "What if it's...not just a Death Eater meeting?"

"What do you mean?" Ron asked.

"Think about it, Voldemort knows Draco is one of us now," Harry said. "What else do you think he could know? I mean, how does he know about Draco?"

"Harry, what are you saying?" Hermione coaxed him.

"I mean..." He said. "He summoned Snape _right_ when he was teaching us. He thinks Snape's his spy and all, but what if he knows the truth?"

"Well apparently he knows everything else," Ron said a bit snidely. "What harm would it do to find out Snape's been double crossing him?"

"What do you mean, Ron?" Hermione exclaimed. "He could find out how to get into Hogwarts, he could find out all of our weaknesses, whatever they're planning-"

"And Snape's past life," Harry added. "I don't know how important it is, but it's something Snape has been hiding from Voldemort-"

"Okay, calm down mate..." Ron said.

"It's not so much that _Snape_ could be in trouble, but all of Hogwarts!"

"Wait..." Harry said thinking something through. "Hermione!"

"Yes...?" She didn't like the way he said her name.

"Hermione, you're the smartest one here, you need to break into one of the Death Eaters minds and see what's going on!" Harry said, knowing how foolish his idea was.

"What?" The two exclaimed.

"We're being trained how to protect our minds, not use someone else's!" Hermione said.

"Plus how do you know they don't all know Occlumency? It could be a requirement for being a Death Eater!" Ron added.

"And what if they can tell someone is breaking into their mind?" Hermione cried, panicking.

"Well it's worth a try, isn't it?" Harry said. "Practice on Ron first."

"What?" Ron exclaimed. "It hurts bad when Snape does it, I don't want to know how bad it hurts when someone who's never done it before does it!"

"Just try," Harry pleaded.

"Um, maybe-" Ron started, but Hermione had her wand at the ready.

"_Legilimens_!"

Nothing happened.

"Er...maybe you should try it, Harry..." Hermione said.

"Or, maybe you should practice on someone else..." Ron said backing up. Harry now had how own wand pointing at Ron.

"_Legilimens_!"

Instead of breaking into his mind he just shot him into the wall, much like with Snape.

"Maybe we should do it again..." Hermione thought.

"No!" Ron said.

"But Ron..." Hermione said in a soft voice that sounded odd for her. "If you _don't_ help us we'll _never_ be able to find out we _all_ could be in danger, not to mention you were already a target once, you're closely associated with us, and you-"

Ron backed himself into a corner and pointed his wand towards the two.

"I-I'm warning you!" He didn't sound too sure. Harry blinked, quite sure Ron wasn't about to attack them.

"Ron-" He said, coming towards his mate.

"_Torto!_" A brilliant flash of light came from the end of Ron's wand, and then he ran off into the boy's dorms as Harry started screaming. To Hermione, he seemed to be looking at something in the opposite corner, but she saw nothing there.

"Harry! Harry, stop - _Finite Incantatum_ - what was it?" Hermione had reversed the spell and Harry was suddenly looking around him like something was there.

"It...It was...Lockhart! He...!" Harry couldn't even finish his sentence.

Hermione blinked. What an odd and pointless spell Ron had used.

"Honestly...Well if Ron plays dirty, so do I." She declared with a playful smirk.

"Hermione..." Harry said warily, "What does that mean?"

"You'll see..." She set off towards the boy's dorms, Harry slowly trailing behind. She was acting quite strange.

"W-What do you want?" He could hear Ron's voice before he even got up there.

"Ron, stop this, come down," Hermione said. She sounded sincere, but Harry could still hear the smile in her voice. "We won't try and break in your mind anymore, promise."

"I...I'll use the hex again! Then you'll see...you'll see you...you've failed all your exams...o-or you'll...you're cat...ran away...yeah...yea, that's...what I'll do..." Ron said, voice shaking. Harry finally reached the two, and noticed that Ron's face was suddenly quite pale, and his eyes...oh no...

"_Irrito_." Hermione said, flicking her wand. But nothing happened. Even then Hermione looked smug.

"Hermione," Harry said gently, trying to pull her back.

"It...Didn't work..." Ron said with a false laugh.

"Not now." Hermione said pleasantly.

"And what do you mean...not now?" Ron asked.

"I mean, _not now._" She said. "_Irrito_." Hermione repeated. That time, something did happen. Much to Harry and Hermione's shock, Ron seemed to throw himself to the ground and odd gurgling noises came from his throat. "Nothing was supposed to happen!" She exclaimed. "It was a fake spell!"

"Hermione-!" Harry exclaimed as Ron got up slowly. "I think Chaos, Ron-!"

"_Get away from me, filthy mudblood._"

Harry collapsed to the floor for the second time that night, clutching his scar. He looked up at Ron, who was not at all himself. Harry realized that Ron was not being controlled by Chaos...no, that high voice, it was Voldemort himself!"

"It has been too long...too long you have interfered..." The voice of the Dark Lord came from Ron, staring intently at Hermione, who was frozen in the corner. Ron slowly raised his wand. "_Ava-_"

Cosmos entered the room, wand bared and eyes equally dark. Hermione couldn't tell if she was seeing correctly, but for just a moment, the possessed Ron had a haughty smile on his face.

"Cosmos..." The voice hissed. "Well, that didn't take long at all. You're exactly what I wanted...the mudblood should act as your house-elf from now on...I was just about to get her out of my way..."

"I don't believe," Cosmos said calmly, "That this boy's wand would've made a proper killing curse. But you've harmed us all for far too long; yes..." She raised her wand...no, she wasn't...

"No!" Hermione exclaimed, leaping before her. "You can't, you'd kill Ron, too!"

"Sometimes sacrifices must be made." Cosmos said shortly. Harry hoped to Merlin it was the darkness in her eyes saying those thing.

"But-"

"Get off it!"

"-You'll kill-"

"Stupefy!" Cosmos stunned Hermione. Harry, though still in pain, backed up a few inches yet tried to act unconscious. At the moment, he wasn't really sure who to fear and what to do, but was very thankful he was nt at the opposite end of Ron's wand.

"You have made it much easier now..." Ron slinked forward a few inches, something that normally would have been a hilarious act, but not in this case.

"Nothing but the final fall of the Dark Lord shall happen tonight." She said, voice unwavering.

"I feel like I've heard that before," Voldemort taunted. Harry couldn't help but wonder why it was Voldemort was acting...almost cruelly friendly towards Cosmos. He was taunting her, yes, but...

"You are standing in a sixteen year old boy, with both myself, Harry, and Albus as close to you as can be," Cosmos said. "Why so foolish?"

"Let's just say," He sneered, "I had a feeling that it was the right thing to do."

Cosmos kept her wand pointed at Ron, eyes narrowing. "You're a bit late, though." She said. "You know very well that the energy inside this boy is gone and has been unlocked by the new Jupiter. You _wanted_ her to unlock that power."

"Oh, but that was only one of the things I wanted." He said. "I felt a sudden sense of, hm, bravado tonight and wondered if I could take out the warrior of Mercury while I was ahead..." He looked down at the body of Hermione. "That and...I wanted to see how far I could get inside this well-guarded school. It seems as long as Chaos has been there, Chaos can go there again. _You_ know all about where the darkness has been, don't you?"

Harry wasn't sure why, but that last line seemed to make Cosmos's blood boil.

"Well, you've tested your boundaries. Now leave before I make you." Cosmos said.

"I came also to thank you, girl." Ron's face was contorted into a horrifying smirk as he said this. "Without your...help...I don't think I could have made it this far in the school. This boy is connected to you now, and You and I...well..."

"I doubt that my spell will harm the boy alone," Cosmos growled. "I am allowing you to flee. Go back to whatever it is you want and leave us."

"Whatever it is I want? You must understand, I have to wait for what I am waiting for, and it is quite the boring wait. I have...tasted...what I want and I can't wait for more. If I only had that source, that minute bit that was keeping me from what I want, the people of all times and origins would no longer fall to the feet of the Cauldron as they meet their final end, no longer fall to the feet of weak wizards who give them their end, but fall to me, and me alone for my own use and glory. You understand what I mean, keeping the Cauldron as you do. The feeling f having the souls of every being at your command. I see it quite clearly," Voldemort commanded Ron to hunch forward, to lick his lips, "I see how excited you're getting at the thought of such conquests and power. Just like last time-"

"You dare..." Cosmos said, fury rising in her voice. "You dare to-!"

"Dare to what?" He asked softly.

"_EXIMO_!" Cosmos shreiked. A silver beam struck Ron, causing him to fall backwards. Voldemort was now no longer inside him, she knew this, but she kept making slashing motions with her wand, shouting the same spell over and over until her voice cracked, "Eximo! _Eximo!_ EXIMO!" Harry, still staring in shock, felt one of the beams hit himself. His vision turned white and there was a warmth in the pit of his stomach. Before he passed out, he saw Cosmos stumble backwards and disappear.

* * *

Harry was looking up. He didn't know where he was, or what he was looking up at. In fact he didn't even notice when Professor Dumbledore bent over him. Of course, it was a very blurry Professor Dumbledore; he didn't know where his glasses had gone. He thought he heard someone saying something, but he could have been wrong. He felt as if he was floating on air. But again, he wasn't sure. The only thing he was sure of was the dull pain in his scar. He tried to think back, what happened...But it was useless. There was nothing to remember. And nothing to forget.

"Harry! Harry, _get up_ already!" Someone was shouting in his ear but he really didn't have the will to respond. His body was weak, so weak he wondered if he was at St. Mungo's, on a string between life and death.

_"You aren't, Mr. Potter,"_ Someone else said...though it wasn't really speech, it was if he could hear the voice inside his head. Had this second person heard his thoughts? _"I can," _Said the same voice. All right, so someone was listening to his thoughts. _"Yes, I am. This is another branch of magic quite similar to Occlumency and Legillimency. I am merely breaking into your mind, but also speaking from my thoughts, and I am not looking at your memories but your previous thoughts. You can do the same while I am in your mind."_

Harry wasn't sure if he was having some crazy dream or what, but there was no harm in trying. He concentrated and thought, _"Can you, um, hear me?"_

_"Yes, I can."_ The person channeled. _"Very good."_

_"Who are you?"_ Harry asked, well, thought.

_"I am I."_

Harry wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, but luckily, his mystery channeler seemed to understand.

_"I really don't care to go into casualties of names, or at least real names." _Was the response.

_"You said my real name."_ Harry noted.

_"So does Snape and Dumbledore."_

_"But can't you at least give me any name?" _Harry replied. _"Where you're, um, communicating from? If...you're even a human?"_

_"I will give you a name, if it will make you happy. It's Neco. Latin. It means "to kill" but that has nothing to do with me. I am close, in a way. I am a human. Well, close enough to a human, anyway."_ The being responded.

_"Would you happen to know where I am?"_ Asked Harry.

_"You are in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts. I believe one of your friends was trying to contact you and get you to awaken, but the fact that we are now communicating blocked anyone out, and if my assumptions are correct, you appear to still be unconscious."_ Neco told him. Harry didn't even bother to ask how Neco knew this, thinking it would only bring about more confusion.

_"I don't mean to be rude or anything..."_ Harry said, not sure where to take this mental conversation. _"But are you a guy or a girl?"_

_"A girl,"_ was the reply. Even though there was no real voice to go along with these words, Harry could tell that Neco had replied in an acid-like tone.

_"Sorry..."_ Harry thought. _"Um, so..why are you channeling me in the first place?"_

_"I've been watching you," _Neco explained. _"I have been alone for all of my existence. My entire being feels like it's just loneliness. I saw you, and I felt a connection to you. I thought, maybe somehow I could contact you...and maybe..."_

_"Maybe what?"_ Harry was desperate to find out.

_"Maybe...I could start over...I could create anew. I would love to meet you in person someday. You are very powerful, Harry Potter. But you are even more powerful than you think. You don't take this power to your head and you are compassionate. You see people for who they really are, not as they just appear."_ Neco's thoughts were sending a warm feeling through Harry._ "Now, I must leave. You must wake up."_

_"You don't have to,"_ Harry thought quickly. _"I don't mind. I want to know more about you."_

_"I know. But the more we channel back and forth, the longer you sleep and the longer your friends remain worried."_ Neco told him. _"But you can call on me any time you want. Promise. Farewell."_

Harry felt like a wind was rising from his body. He opened his eyes. Hermione was leaning over him, scratched and bruised face full of worry. He smiled.

"Hi."


	16. a perfectly odd chapter with a bad title

Darkness and Light

Chapter 16

Angel of the White Moon - Good, I was worried when it got to the part when Voldie was possessing Ron that it sounded a bit off.

****

Mae - Neco will make an appearance in her body later...

****

LilSha2Cool - Okay, first question, it just seemed right for him to be Snape. Snape is very dark and very unlikely. Second question...hmm, bad wording. I should've explained that 'Eximo' was a spell to banish sprites and ghosts and such from other people. Also, she knew Voldie was gone from his body but she kept using the spell because...that part I can't tell, but I'll explain later. And the last question, yes, Dumbledore has made very few appearances but it'll be explained in this chapter. 

* * *

The next few days went by slowly. It seemed Neville had been the one who found the trio unconscious in the boy's dorms. Unfortunately, this led to everyone else knowing about it. The thing was, the three barely remembered it. 

Hermione remembered Ron was acting weird so she went up to talk to him. She also remembered Cosmos coming up, and, she must have been imagining, wanting to kill Ron. Ron remembered the two telling him that Snape was being summoned and they wanted to practice something on him. And Harry remembered Snape being summoned, Ron being odd, and feeling like he was going to die. But he also remembered something that the others did not. Neco.

'I'm dreaming.' He thought to himself. 'Neco is just someone from my dreams. I dreamt talking to her.'

But then again...

Harry found himself in the Restricted Section of the library under his Invisibility Cloak nights later looking for it...

He found what he was looking for, a list of everyone who attended Hogwarts.

He looked at all the names, just incase. He didn't know how old she was - Dumbledore was over 150, after all.

Some of the more current names had other things by their names. Professor McGonagall's name was on the list as teacher since a little before his father went to school. Professor Lupin was also in the list of Harry's third year in 1993 (Isn't that right?) But there was no one named 'Neco.'

But he was sure, quite sure, that Neco existed. If he could only talk to her to know that he wasn't going mad.

'You can always call on me if you need help.'

He remembered her words, but did it mean actually say her name out loud or try to channel his thoughts? She had said it was a branch of Occlumency and Legilemency, but he wasn't good at either. But then again, he didn't want to lose his sanity thinking she existed. So, he had to try. But he thought it was odd, the thought of her making him think all these things. Maybe he shouldn't trust her.

But anyway, he concentrated hard on Neco's name.

~Neco? Are you there?~

No answer.

~Neco? Please answer, tell me I'm not loosing my mind like everyone says...~ Harry's Invisibility Cloak fell off him and he felt some of his hair move. He knew it; Neco had heard his plea.

~Hello, Harry Potter.~

* * *

Hermione stared listlessly at the fire the House-elves, much to her displeasure, kept burning. Harry had left a while ago to go to the library. He didn't say why, which made her worry even more. He had been acting odd for about a week, now.

"'Mione? What are you doing up?" Someone said. Hermione turned around to see Ron.

"What about you?" She asked.

"Couldn't sleep." He took a seat next to her on the couch.

"It's been too much." Hermione said. Ron didn't answer so she continued. "I mean you've been possessed and attacked, Harry's acting odd, we're doing all this stuff...it's all too much."

"Yeah..." Ron said but he only half understood.

"Y'know, at the beginning of my first year, I was overconfident because I read everything they threw at me. But then I learned there was much more that reading about something."

"Yeah, but you've helped us out of lots of things!" Ron protested.

"Like?"

"You found out who Nicholas Flamel was and helped Harry to drink the right potion-"

"But you sacrificed yourself for us-"

"-You figured out the monster in the Chamber was a basilisk and how it got around-"

"-I got petrified. And then you helped him get past the spiders and into the Chamber-"

"-You took more classes, tried to help...and did in the end...Buckbeak, and figured out Lupin was a werewolf-"

"-Those classes made me really edgy, I couldn't help Hagrid in the first place, and I was insensitive when we thought Crookshanks ate Scabbers-"

"-BUT in our fourth year YOU helped him with summoning, YOU tried to help him with the second task, if we hadn't been under there at the time, and YOU helped him with spells to get him though the maze! I didn't do a thing but go after Fleur and Krum!" Ron finished. But then he realized what he had said. "Oh...sorry." Victor Krum was a famous Quidditch player who had just gotten out of school the year before. Of course, this meant he was doing more rigorous training every day. But some player from another team had heard what happened during the Tri Wizard tournament - or at least part of it. He put a spell on his bat that could call the bludger to him if he wanted it to. This player got a real foul mood when he started going after the snitch and was in the lead, so he kept hitting him with the bludger over and over...until his heart which had been hit several times had stopped.

"You don't have to apologize, Ron." Hermione said. "I mean, I have Harry." But Ron sensed something in the way she said it.

"Y-Yeah, you do." Ron said. 

More silence.

"...Sometimes...I just don't know..."

* * *

~Nah, I never went to Hogwarts.~ Neco said. ~I learned magic other ways.~

~How long did it take?~ Harry asked.

~About as long as it takes anyone. But you always learn more firsthand. Or at least in my case. And Harry,~ She said, ~You aren't going mad no matter what anyone says. You're just having reactions of Lord Voldemort's actions.~

~You don't mind saying his name?~ Harry said.

~Nope. Once you or your family's been wounded by his actions you really don't mind it.~

~Who's been hurt...or, er, killed, if you don't mind me asking.~

~Me.~

~Er...Neco?~ Harry asked remembering something from their past conversation. ~You...are you... alive?~

~I keep telling myself that but sometimes the memories hurt so bad I feel dead on the inside.~

~I feel like that sometimes.~

~Somehow I think that I have the bigger pain sometimes. Or equal. But, no, I believe that later you will have a much bigger pain than I.~

Harry and Neco talked for a while about lots of things until he felt his head slipping down onto the table and heard Neco say one last thing.

~Ashiteru~

* * *

"Yeah, we were really odd back then..." Ron said. They were looking at some pictures of themselves.

"That's at the Leaving Feast in our first year, right?" Hermione asked pointing to the next one.

"Yeah...we have all those scars from the keys and the chessboard." He said pointing out the dark gashes. The Ron in the photo frowned and made an effort to cover them up. "Why are these pictures really bad?" He said motioning to the next pages.

"Colin took them. Ugh...he took a picture of you coughing up slugs..." Ron in the photo tried, like the previous, tried to cover himself up, but ended up coughing up another slug. "Um...I don't remember if I ever thanked you for that."

"You don't have to." Ron said quietly. "I didn't do anything."

"But you tried to defend me...and I want to. So thank you for that."

"Er...your welcome..." He looked up into her face, shadows dancing on her face from the fire. She smiled faintly. "He was out of his mind...calling you a - a..." None of them knew what really happened next. They were both slowly leaning forward and then their lips gently touched and they realized how hot the fire really was.

* * *

Harry opened his eyes, not comprehending where he was. The only thing he remembered was finding out that Neco was for real and not something of his imagination. He also remembered the silent conversation they had the previous night. And then he remembered something she said right before he fell asleep. But what did 'Ashiteru' mean?

He looked at his watch. The library was open to everyone, now. He put the cloak back over his head and snuck out of the door to the restricted section, taking the cloak off when he was in a shadowed corner. 

"Harry?" He spun around, hoping whoever called his name didn't see the cloak. It was Chibiusa.

"Er, hi ." He realized that she was smiling very brightly. "What?"

"I just like to look at new things when I wake up! Don't you?" She smiled again.

"Well... it depends on what it is." He said. "You wouldn't happen to know where Hermione is, would you?" The smile faded a bit.

"I suppose she'd be at breakfast." Chibiusa replied. He made towards the door. "Harry, wait, I need you to help me with something!" 

"What," He asked.

"...Something." She said slowly.

"What?" He repeated.

".........................I need you to get a book from a shelf." Harry knew that getting a book was not what she wanted. But he let her show him to the shelf and he got down a book on fire reading.

"Waiiiit!" She said in a loud whisper as he went for the door again.

"I need to ask Hermione about something." He said. And with that he left, leaving Chibiusa.

* * *

Harry sat down across from Hermione at the table. She looked at him carefully for a minute, then returned to buttering an already over-buttered piece of toast.

"Can I ask you something?" He said.

"I...I suppose." She said.

"Do you know what 'Ashiteru' means?" Hermione looked relieved for some reason.

"I'm not exactly sure, but it means something like 'love' or 'I love you.' I heard Usagi say it a while ago." She explained. Harry was surprised. Was that really what Neco had said? Had he misheard...er, misread? "Why did you want to know?" She asked.

"Just...wondering."

"I know why!" Ginny popped up. But she motioned him to come closer and whispered, "Maybe whoever said it wants to ask you to the dance!"

"What dance?" Harry asked.

"There's a dance - a masquerade ball - that's going to be held before the winter holidays. It's early so everyone can go. It was on the notice board this morning."

"Oh," He said looking like he just remembered. "Er, I have Defense now..."

"You do?" Ginny asked, sounding surprised. "It's just that Cosmos hasn't been at the staff table for a week and my class yesterday was cancelled. And when I went into the Hospital Wing to visit Luna Lovegood, you know she was just placed on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, Cosmos wasn't there either. It's like she vanished."

"Good." Someone said. It was Ron. "She's creepy. Ever since she showed up bad things have happened."

"_Ron,_" Ginny said. Harry didn't know if he was joking or not.

"It's true, you know. I just don't want you to get hurt." Hermione came over.

"Well thanks for being considerate but I think she - Sirius?" Harry turned around, and sure enough, Sirius as the big black dog came up to them. Some of the people noticed him and the girls pointed and remarked on how cute he was.

"What are you doing here?" Harry whispered. In response, Sirius turned around and walked out the door again. Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Ron followed his path, up the grand staircase, down the corridor, up two more flights of stairs and into the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom to find none other that Professor Lupin!

"Professor Lupin!" Hermione exclaimed. Though he had been looking a foot away from where they were standing, when Hermione spoke his head snapped to them as if he hadn't notice them all come in. "What are you doing here?"

"Something happened to your regular teacher so I'm substituting until she gets back." He explained. Sirius got on his hind legs and closed the door, though he fell over in this process and turned back into human. Most everyone stifled a laugh except for Lupin. He did not even smile.

"So what's up?" Sirius said getting off the ground as if nothing had happened.

"I was possessed by You-Know-Who, that's what!" Ron let out. Harry had a feeling he had wanted to tell everyone this.

"Professor, what's the matter with your eyes?" Ginny asked. Harry looked at his eyes and saw something was indeed wrong. They were no longer the golden color they were before but were now steely and grey. They also weren't focusing on anything and had a dreamy glaze around them.

"Nothing really, I'm just temporarily blind." He said casually. He then said after a second, "its not like his hasn't happened before, just worse than the last time."

"Don't take it so lightly, Moony, they'll think you're kidding." Sirius said. "Besides, we need to find out who did this to you."

"How can someone make someone else blind without stabbing you in the eyes?" Ron asked.

"_Silver,_ Ron, even I know that." Ginny said.

"Well who did it the last time?" Hermione asked.

"Er, actually I did, but that was an accident..." Sirius said.

"Why would someone want to make you blind?" Harry asked.

"We haven't figured it out. Maybe it was an accident like last time; maybe someone was playing a joke." Lupin said.

"If they were they must have something against werewolves." Hermione said. Harry had a feeling S.P.E.W. would be coming up soon. "Hold on," she said. "You said something happened to Cosmos? Our regular teacher?"

"Well they didn't really say when they asked me to come back-"

"They?" Hermione asked. "Who's 'they?'"

"I was blind at the time and Sirius wasn't there, but it was a man and a woman. I don't think I've ever met them before." Lupin explained. "I think the woman was afraid of me or something, she-"

"Afraid?" Hermione's eyes widened. Ginny seemed to be thinking what she was - whatever that was.

"We have to be going." Ginny said. The two girls left the other two following behind and quickly catching up as they had set off at a run.

"What is it?" Ron asked.

"Cosmos stunned me right after You-Know-Who stared speaking through you." Hermione explained. "But I woke up and heard him saying something. I didn't get it, but it sounded bad, whatever it was.

"Ginny wasn't there! How does she know?" Ron protested.

"Because now that - ah!" Both Hermione and Ginny suddenly transformed into their Senshi fuku.

"Mione?!" Chibiusa called she too had appeared, but her fuku was different from the previous time. Her gloves were longer and her broach had transformed into a more elaborate heart-shaped pattern.

"What's going on?" Ginny said. Suddenly Cho and Draco appeared from no where. Their outfits had also changed. Cho was wearing a sleeveless, strapless red shirt and a very short white mini-skirt and white knee socks with pink strapy high-heels. Draco was wearing about the same thing except the top had one of those sailor things and he wore a silver mask.

"What the bloody hell is this about? I was just about to-" Draco protested. Just then the light from the windows and candles disappeared. It grew cold and Harry was sure of what would happen next - and he was right. An innumerable amount of Dementors came at them from all directions...but...they couldn't be dementors...they were making an odd high-pitched laughing noise. But there was no time to think, one of the dementors had grabbed Ginny by the wrists and was pulling her towards it's mouth.

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry shouted. But nothing happened. One had grabbed Hermione, he had to think of something...some_one_!

"Expecto Patronum!" A silver stag burst from the tip of his wand and charged down the dementors which turned out to be leithfolds. Ginny clamped herself to Harry, fear in her eyes.

"Why...why were there leithfolds here?" Cho asked, detransforming herself which, to Harry, looked odd.

"Why do you think?" Hermione said. "You-Know-Who."

"where's Cosmos?" Chibiusa asked. 

"We still don't know but I have to ask her something, it's urgent." Hermione said. "But I know that something's never going to be the same again."

"Er, I don't mean to interrupt but don't you think we should get to class?" Ginny asked slowly unraveling herself from Harry.

"Class? I forgot?!"

"Well some of us have more important things to do." Draco said. They departed from the spot where the leithfolds had attacked.

But Harry knew she was right. Something wouldn't be the same, he could feel it. But the question was...what?

\/\///\//\\//\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\\///\\\\\////\/\/\

Okay, sorry this took so long but...school started! Eeep!

O, well next chapter is the ball. Review = update! 


	17. Neco is taking over him

**EDIT:** Took out song lyrics (

Darkness and Light

Chapter 17

**Midnight Moondrops** - I know what you mean - look at my favorites list!

**Angel of the white moon** - A Lethifold (I misspelled it as 'Leithfold' on the other chapter sweatdrops) is a creature from Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them that is described as a shapeless black shadow that slithers around at night and swallows it's sleeping victims. But what were they doing in the morning, broad daylight...?

**Mae** - Cosmos will reappear...sometime. And for those other questions...you'll just have to wait 'n see. But yes, destiny is changing!

We did a project for our language class and we had to make a doll. I made a stuffed Harry! . He was so kawaii!

- --------- -

Oddly enough, despite the mysterious attack, nothing had happened since. Cosmos had yet to return.

Hermione had asked Dumbledore about it that said he knew nothing, which obviously meant he DID know something.

But the Christmas ball was rapidly approaching and everyone was telling everyone else who they were going with and what they were wearing which was very much like last year.

"You can't really go with someone unless they pick you up," Ginny said smartly. "It's a masquerade ball; it's hard to tell who's who."

While almost everyone was crowding Madam Malkin's on the next Hogsmede weekend, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny didn't need to worry about that because Mrs. Weasly had purchased (sewn in Ginny and Ron's case) very nice suits and dresses for them, along with some masks. When Harry tried his on, Chibiusa commented that he looked like Tuxedo Kamen. They used their free time buying out the shops for presents and sipping on hot butterbeer. They took turns going to the counter to get the bottles, which is when the other three got out what they got for him or her.

"Hey Harry?" Ginny asked when Hermione had left and Harry got out the gold and silver bracelet he was going to give to her. "Who's that one for?" She pointed to the bag that the bracelet had come from. There was something else in there...but Harry didn't remember buying anything else. He pulled it out and opened the velvet case to find a silver chain with a simple sapphire charm in the shape of a moon at the end.

"I have no idea." He said. Spotting Hermione, he put the items of jewelry back into the bag.

(The night of the ball! My, I skip around a lot...just wait till chapter 23...)

Harry slipped on his silver mask and climbed down the spiral stairs. There were no girls downstairs, but just the Gryffindor boys. The girls were still upstairs getting ready.

"They said the ball starts at eight - it's seven forty-five now." Seamus said

"Might as well leave." Ron said.

"Wait!" Someone called. Ginny and Chibiusa came running (or as much as you can run in a dress) down the stairs. Ginny wore a simple purple dress, a matching purple mask in hand. Chibiusa's was much more extravagant, long and white (with a hint of pink) with many layers. Her mask was already on. It matched her dress quite well, but instead of strings holding the mask, long white ribbons took its place and was weaved into her hair. "If you're leaving for the great hall, we'll come with you."

(A few moments later...)

Everyone had arrived and most everyone chose a partner and began to dance. Harry did not, however, so he sat down on one of the chairs lined against the wall. He stared and watched people dancing. Draco was dancing with some short girl...who looked very much like Ginny...Hermione and Ron was no where to be seen...and-

_Good evening, Harry._

Harry jumped a bit.

_N-Neco?_

_I startled you, didn't I? Forgive me, please._

_Er, yeah sure._

_I see you're a bit lonesome because everyone's dancing except you._

_Uh, not exactly..._ Harry thought. _But how can you tell that I'm not dancing...how did you even know what I was doing?_

_Do you see that girl in the corner with red hair? That's Me_.

Harry looked where she instructed. Neco had said at one point she was alone. But he couldn't see how.

Neco looked about his age with red hair; some falling a little lower than her ears, some shoulder length, and the rest was pulled in the back into a braid with an ornamental hair clip in the shape of an upside-down triangle. (It was golden with a purple center) Her dress seemed a bit medieval. (Okay, I'm going to explain this as best as I can, but I'm not good at this. I did a picture of it, so if anyone wants to see it, email me.) The collar was purple and lacy. From under the collar came out what was almost a cape-like material (red) Her sleeves were short and puffy with a purple lace around the edge and purple lace gloves. The body of the dress was a bit like a swimsuit. (Also red) Protruding from this was some more purple lace, then more red fabric for the skirt. Her mask hid her eyes. Her skin seemed smooth and...Well, enough descriptions. We shant make Harry ecchi.

Ahem...anyway, Harry slowly stood up and walked over to the person who had been haunting his mind. A new song began to play.

"Uh, Neco?" He said.

"Hello, Harry Potter. We finally meet." Her voice was a bit childish but very cute.

"Uh...yeah." For some odd reason he was having trouble talking to her. But he didn't seem to have trouble pouring out his soul to her in his mind.

"You said you weren't anywhere near here." Harry said.

"I wasn't but I gained intelligence that a ball was being held here, and as I have never been to one I decided to see what it was like. There was some business I had to attend here anyway so it was quite easy to gain entrance."

"Oh...uhh...do...do you..." Neco lowered her head and he could feel her quickly entering and exiting his mind.

"Yes, I would, Harry." Harry blinked. But before he knew it he was on the floor dancing with the redhead. They did this for a while, none of the students noticing the new person.

Suddenly, Neco fell to the ground bringing Harry with her.

"What's wrong?" He asked, concerned.

"It's..." She breathed. "It's nothing." Harry helped her up. She turned her head to look at the ceiling, bewitched to show the sky above. The twinkling stars were reflected in the eyepieces of her mask. She turned to him "Follow me. I want to show you something."

"Wha-" He looked at her and she smiled, then leading him out of the great hall and up the grand staircase and into the maze of Hogwarts.

"I thought you've never been here before," He said.

"I haven't." She agreed. "But I know of a place here, someone told me..." They climbed up to the seventh floor. Neco no looked confused. She walked one way, then back the way she came, and back again. "Oh, here..." She pushed open a door that resembled the time gate. Neco looked back at him and smiled. He followed her up a fleet of stairs and through another door. They were outside on the roof. Snow had fallen in a light layer. Neco walked over to the edge and sat down on the ledge after brushing it off. Harry joined her. There was silence. Silence was bad. _Think,_ Harry thought to himself.

"I don't remember that door being there." He said.

"It wasn't." She said. "But I wanted it to be, and there it was." Harry didn't exactly understand but couldn't help smiling to himself as he looked at the pink spots on her cheeks from the cold.

"What is it?" She asked.

"N-nothing." Neco turned to him and took off his mask. He couldn't really see her now as the mask had a charm on it to repel the snow.

"I just wanted to see the real Harry Potter." She said. Automatically, he took off hers. She had brilliant, shining red eyes that could have been mistaken for stars.

The stars disappeared as Neco closed her eyes and leaned over to Harry. They were no longer cold.

Harry awoke the next morning in his four poster bed. How he had gotten there was beyond his knowledge - the last thing he remembered was kissing Neco on the roof. Wait...kissing Neco? Was that what had ran through his mind seconds ago? But wasn't he supposed to love Hermione eternally or something like that? And where was Hermione last night? In fact where was anyone? The only people he could remember...were Neco and himself.

But where was Neco?

He jumped out of bed and realized he was still in the suit. Harry found some other clothes and quickly threw them on. But he wasn't wearing his robes. Should he? It was hard to think.

'Okay,' he said to himself, 'Think slowly. It's Sunday. No classes. Yesterday was a ball. Neco really does have a human body...Thinks bad thoughts...'

He went downstairs to find Ginny asleep on the couch. As soon as he reached the bottom step, she woke up, frantically looking around as if she too had lost something.

"Oh...it's just you." She said. "I mean not like not I'm happy to see you...Oh, I mean not like I'm so happy to see you I'm swooning...I mean-"

"I know what you mean." Harry said. "What were you doing down here anyway?"

"Oh! I...er...well...last night my...er, my person that I was going with, we...er, we went into...his... house...he's in...a different house...and well...we...uh..._talked_ and...we did this for a while...and it got quite late so I came back here and fell asleep...and...Yeah, that's it." She tried to look as innocent as possible, which made her look as _guilty _as possible. "So what's up?"

"Nothing," he said. Harry got up and opened the common room door to find... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... (Don't you just hate waiting? . )... ... ... ... ... ... ... (I hate doing this to you. -.- )... ... ... (I think we all know who he's going to find, ne?)... ... ... ... ... ... ...

...Lavender! (Sorry!)

"Tooooo much wiiiine..." She slurred, going up to the girls dorms. Harry watched her hobble up the stairs then turned back to the open portrait to see...

----------------

Sorry! I hate making you wait! But it makes the story better...right? Am I making assumptions? (**EDIT PT. 2: **I kinda was )

Review Updates! Basic math!


	18. Cosmos is back andnothing else

Darkness and Light 

Chapter 18!

This story's longer than the last! I'm happy!

****

Angel of the white moon - ^.^v Yay! Thanks!

****

Midnight Moondrops - Thanks. But the sad part (about my list) is that I've reached thirty and have to delete one...

****

Mae - I want to tell but I can't...*sob*

****

LilSha2Cool - Oops, sorry! It didn't send it to me like it usually does. So - 1) it kind of seemed right, plus he went to fight at the end of PoH. 2) That will be explained later. I think I answered in the last chapter what a Lethifold was. And my Sn on Neopets is Lady_Snape575. But I hope you do get your story up soon. 

Oh, yeah. Thanks 2 **hpisfitandsoischandler **in Princess of Hogwarts! And thanks to **Chelsea** for putting this in the DP! Domo arigato gozaimasu!

Okay, I'll stop talking and start writing.

*************************************^.^*************************

(Instant Replay)

"So what's up?" Ginny asked.

"Nothing," he said. Harry got up and opened the common room door to find...Lavender! 

"Tooooo much wiiiine..." She slurred, going up to the girls dorms. Harry watched her hobble up the stairs then turned back to the open portrait to see...

Cosmos!

"C-Cosmos! What hap-"

"Yes, yes, I disappeared, I came back.."

"Cosmos?" Ginny appeared next to Harry. "Um, you're bleeding," She said pointing to the side of her head.

"I am," She agreed walking in. Something about her just wasn't right. "You're right, it isn't."

"Isn't what?" Harry said getting a feeling of familiarity.

"What?"

"What you said it isn't."

"What's that?"

"I don't know, what is it?"

"What's what?"

"I don't know!"

"...You'll have to tell Remus Lupin that he can leave." She said after a moment. "And tell him to get better soon."

"Okay." He said, avoiding getting confused again.

"How do you know about that?" Ginny asked.

"...Well, really, it...was partially my fault that he was made temporarily blind and ultimately my fault that you were in hospital wing."

"It was?" Someone said from the stairs. Hermione came down the stairs. Harry made a mental note to ask her where she had been last night.

"Yes, well..." Cosmos said, taking a breath and settling herself on the couch in front of the fire. The others moved away from the common room door and over by the fire. "You remember that Lord Voldemort was speaking through Ron. Harry's scar hurt immensely at the time and he could barely do a thing at the time. Hermione was there at the time when I came up the stairs. I had sensed him near the castle trying to find a way in."

"How could he have gotten his mind into Ron in the first place?" Hermione asked. "I mean, with all the spells and such surrounding the castle."

"Well, if it were Harry, Chibiusa, you, or I, that would be an easy question to answer. Harry is connected to him through his scar, which, I'm sure you've heard innumerous times. Hermione, Chibiusa, and all of the other Senshi-Knights are related in some way through hatred."

"And you?" Ginny asked.

"I...well...I'm getting to that. Anyway, it was quite odd that he could get himself into Ron. But then I realized it - it was quite simple, really."

"What was it?" Harry asked.

"He had the power that Ginny needed to successfully transform."

"Oh yeah, while you were gone these Lethifolds came and attacked us." Ginny said.

"Which was odd because it was daylight and none of us were in any vulnerable position." Hermione said.

"Yes, and right before that, we all transformed without meaning to, and all of us-"

"Except me," Hermione said sadly.

"-Had become Senshi-Knights."

"Really," She said, not actually sounding amazed. "I assume this means that battle draws near. You didn't see anyone unusual at that time. No one came to the school, yet had no business here?"

Immediately Neco came to Harry's mind. But she had said that, and I quote, '_There was some business I had to attend here anyway,'_ so she was surely invited. But, then again, what business was there?

"No," He said.

"But you were talking about why You-Know-Who was connected to you." Ginny said. Harry had a feeling that Cosmos did not want to tell her, or any one, for that matter. 

"Right...I was." She stared into the flames in the fireplace for a moment, then back to the underage. "And this is where the part of the Hospital Wing comes in. Well, I believe that we all would like to see the end of Lord Voldemort, and when he had spoken through Ron-"

"She tried to kill him!" Hermione exclaimed. "And then you stunned me!"

"Indeed I did." Cosmos said. "But...well, I've been trying to hold off on telling you as long as I could, but someone must know at some point, I suppose."

"You mean, why You-Know-Who's connected to you?" Hermione asked.

"Yes." She said, softly. "It's not that it's something that shouldn't be heard by anyone or that it's something that would plague your mind with nightmares...It's just...it's something I've kept to myself for quite awhile. No...I shall tell you.

"I knew who he was before he himself knew what he would become. At that time, I was at Hogwarts in business that I cannot tell you without getting the permission of Professor Dumbledore. But anyway, I looked quite different than I did now - I had purposely changed my appearance. Due to certain circumstances, I was to do my tasks during the night. No one was to see me. I lived in the most concealed of rooms - even your map doesn't show it, Harry." She said addressing him. "Anyway, well, of course, a young Mr. Riddle found me. He didn't know who I was, however. But he told me his plans, his plans being the Basilisk...and everything else he has done and shall do.

"My identity was soon revealed, which was when Voldemort knew that I could be the key to his plan, for the power I had shown at that time was nothing to the things that you may think of as extraordinary or horrifically great. But then..."

"You don't have to tell us." Hermione said.

"Yes, well...I suppose. Anyway, when he was inside of Ron, he brought this up...in a way that...well, it made me a bit livid. He had already gone when I had hit Ron's body with the Spell of Dispersion. But I wanted him to be gone - to never return and suffer for all the pain he's caused people - muggles and witches and wizards alike. I kept repeating the spell, hitting you two and Ron. And for that I apologize. After that, the spell had used so much of my energy that I passed out and transported myself somewhere without meaning to. That someplace was Little Hangleton, the birthplace of Voldemort."

"What does this have to do with Lupin?" Harry asked. 

"I'm getting there," Cosmos said. "Well, I had no mean to be there and told him quite plainly that I had a class to teach. He then put me under the Imperious Curse and that, if I'm not mistaken, put some silver in Remus Lupin's eyes to make him temporarily blind, which is where both myself and Voldemort informed him of the job that he had to do." She took a breath, and continued. "It took me a while to snap myself out of the curse. When I did, I escaped from him, and, here I am."

_________________---------------------------_______________

Okay. Yes short, bad ending, but I wrote this all tonight cuz I saw I hadn't updated in a while. But please review. Bai! 


	19. Christmas begins and I'm covered in bloc...

Darkness and Light

Chapter 19

****

Angel of the white moon - thank you!

****

Mae - Cosmos and Neco will have a meeting quite soon. Neco did not bewitch him, and he will tell Cosmos about Neco...when he gets a chance.

* * *

"...And here I am..." Cosmos said again. "I...yes...I am here now." She turned to the three. "And that is what happened. I believe you should retire to your dorms now. It is still quite early. Please forgive me for waking you and keeping you for so long."

The three quietly went back up to their rooms - they did feel quite tired. So tired they didn't hear Cosmos say, "And she is here now, also."

* * *

It was a week before the actual Christmas break. Ever since the notoriously early ball, very odd things were happening. People realized that the people they thought they were dancing with were not in fact the people they were. Pansy was still *mysteriously* gone. And Cosmos was not at breakfast that Monday.

Harry was leaving from the Great Hall after having breakfast. He looked up at the sky made to resemble the outdoor sky. It looked very odd today. 

Just then he collided with someone. The person shrieked and Harry heard, who he was sure was a girl, drop something heavy on the floor. He sat up and saw the person he knocked over was a girl about twenty-two with spiky purple hair. She looked at him (or maybe his scar) for a second before saying, "Wotcher, Harry!" She got up, picking up her books - and Harry did the same - got up and helped her pick up her books. "Thank you."

"Er, you're welcome. And uh, sorry for knocking you over."

"Oh, no, it was my fault, trust me. I do that all the time. In fact sometimes I wander around and find myself somewhere entirely different then where I wanted to be. Like the other day I was in Diagon Alley and then I was in Hogsmede...oh, sorry, I've talked on. My name's Tonks. And you're Harry Potter, that I know...and that's Albus Dumbledore whom I was just about to see. Goodbye, Harry."

And she walked off not looking back towards the head table.

'Ooookay...' Harry thought to himself. Usually he was not accustomed to odd things happening first thing in the morning. (Though he should be.)

He walked into Defense Against the Dark Arts, feeling very unprepared for the test that Lupin was supposed to give - which meant Cosmos was sure to give it. The day they discussed what was on it, his mind was outside on the Quidditch field trying to make sense of some new tactic. But when he walked into D.A.D.A...

"Thank you!" 

Ron was looking at the ceiling, his hands held high. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!"

Harry looked at Hermione, hoping she would explain. Hermione pointed to the desk. Instead of Cosmos's candy-red hair standing out from the others, he saw purple.

"Which is very odd since she was here just yesterday." Hermione said.

"I think this is a conspiracy." Lavender Brown said. "I think she just shows up, then goes off, and then collects her money at the end of the year."

"All right," Tonks said, and, being the good lil' ppl they are sat down. "Now your regular teacher, Miss...er..."

"Cosmos," Dean said.

"Yes her, she has here that you are supposed to be taking a test...but seeing as I was in my sixth year not long ago...I can make an accurate account that we did not study for these tests...well not these little ones, anyway...but anyway, Miss Cosmos said that I am supposed to give you a review on what is going to be on this test. Now let's take a vote - the choices are - A - Give you a short review and take the test today, or B, Pull out one 1ft piece of parchment and for the rest of the class use your book to write down notes upon what was hinted to be on the test, then take that piece of parchment tomorrow into the test."

Everyone but Hermione chose to take the test the next day.

* * *

For the rest of that week, Tonks served as teacher for Cosmos.

In this same week, plans were made that the Hermione, Harry, Ginny, and Ron were going to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas break.

And for the rest of that week, Harry wondered about Neco. ( =^O Shock.)

So, _did_ he really kiss her? Or did she kiss him? Or did they kiss each other? Or will the author stop ranting on this particular subject?

But he had not seen nor heard her since that night. Odd, no?

But Harry was still very confused in his heart. (Random audience: Awww...) 

-----------------------------------------------

__

Okay, **this isn't the end of this chapter**, but I've had **writer's block**. In fact, many **block**s. They're very **heavy** things, you know. Er, anyway, after you **finish** reading this short chapter and ***sparkles, smiles* review**, please put in your **review** any **fun (or sadness) **you'd like to put in the next chapter. These **blocks** are taking up lots of **space**. Okay, you may **proceed**. (And **please ignore** the **bold letters**, I'm just trying to **waste time and think**.)

-----------------------------------------------

*Christmas!*

Ginny ran down the stairs of the girl's dorms like a little child and flopped down next to a large decorated tree. Hermione slowly followed. She looked tired. Harry and Ron woke up due to Ginny and came downstairs. As soon as Ron saw the tree, his eyes lit up and he ran down the stairs just like Ginny and began to scavenge under the wrapped parcels to find his presents.

"Is there something about Redheads and presents...?" Hermione asked. Chibiusa (I kinda forgot about her...) came down the stairs and joined the fun.

"Must apply to the pink one as well." Harry said.

"Mako-Chan made me cookies! With sugar!" Chibiusa said.

"Makoto?" Hermione asked. 

"Yep, Makoto, Eternal Sailor Jupiter in the future."

Chibiusa felt bad about getting more presents than everyone else so she shared her cookies and got Harry and Hermione on the sugar.

So they opened their presents which I'm too busy to think of.

"Oh, Harry, It's beautiful!" Hermione exclaimed when she saw his gift. But she did not embrace him.

"This is yours, too," Chibiusa said, handing him a flat present.

"Thanks," He said.

"Oh, It's not from me, I just found it." Chibiusa said. Harry looked at the card. The only name there besides his was in a small corner of the small piece of paper as if it wished to be hidden. He held it up to the firelight and read, '_Neco.'_

-------------------=---------------

****

Sorry to interrupt you good ppl again...er, hold on, what was I gunna say.... Oh, yeah. When you *smile* review, ya think one of you ppl could tell me what a Mary-Sue is? Someone said it was one thing, but someone else said it was another...*.* I don't know! Okay, just thought of that now and needed to write it down before I forgot...again. 

------------------=----------------

Harry quickly opened it. Inside was a mere piece of parchment that read:

__

Harry-

Seeing as what I wish to present to you

should not and shall not be seen by unfriendly 

and untrustworthy eyes, I fear that I can not 

be conventional and give you this gift while

many may be watching, I would like of you

to come to the room on the seventh floor

that we visited the previous week at nine

O' clock tonight.

Bring no one, speak of it to no one.

Neco

Harry finally realized why he bought that moon pendant. He would give it to her tonight.

____________________________

This is actually the end - but don't go yet! Because if I get 4+ reviews I'll put up two (hopefully unblocked) chapters! Because I _know_ (or think I know) that someone is reading this and not reviewing... *Elvish whispers* I feel it in the earth.... *Elvish whispers* I smell it in the air....

Okay, but I just gotta know that someone is reading this!

Bai!


	20. a short chapter in which ron is hungry

Darkness and Light

Chapter 20. 

The disclaimer...(yes, not any old disclaimer, but THE disclaimer.) I can not have Hp. I must not have Sm. I shall not have HpSm crossovers....'cept this one.

A.N: No one told me what a Mary-Sue is! I need to know! I'm starting an LOTR fic and I want to make sure it's not a Mary-Sue! 

And thank you to the people who have reviewed at any point in my story!

****

Angel of the white moon

mae - Questions! =) And I know I tell you this a lot, but sadly, you must wait. I really do want to tell you but I don't want to spoil it.

*~*~*

Later that very Christmas day, the trio, Ginny, and Chibiusa went outside into the plethora of falling snowflakes and started to have a snowball fight. Harry and Hermione began using their wands to aim and fire some snowballs. But then two snowballs that seemed to come from no where hit them in the heads. Harry scraped the snow from his face and turned towards the entrance where Tonks, who looked as if she had been watching then for some time, sat on the steps innocently. The snow next to her had two big handfuls missing.

"Sorry, I had to do that." Tonks said.

"Erm...why?" Harry asked.

"You're were too...lucky, I suppose the word was. I can conjure a snowball, but if I tried to shoot it with my wand, It'd probably break someone's window. Really, I barely passed my test to be an Auror because I was so clumsy."

"You're an Auror?!" Hermione exclaimed. "But...if you're an Auror, why are you a substitute teacher?"

"Really, I'd think that you of all people would know that." Tonks said. 

"...Because it's a Defense Against the Dark Arts class?"

"Well, I suppose that's one of my reasons." Tonks said. She looked at Harry and smiled. Suddenly Chibiusa jumped up and down, waving hand up as if she was in class.

"Oooh! Oooh! Mememememememe! I know!" She picked up a handful of snow and said, "You came here to protect Harry!" And with that she threw her snowball at his head. It landed and exploded on his already cold face.

"Correct again!" Tonks said. "That's two out of three, but the third, sadly shall have to wait a moment."

"Why's that?" Hermione said. At that moment, Sirius as the big black dog came out from the hole in the Whomping Willow. Which was quite odd because Harry had thought he went with Remus back to his house in Ireland when Cosmos came back. Also, Sirius usually did not come out into the open, and it was very open because there were students from other houses outside who recognized him from when he came into the Great Hall a while ago, and also Tonks. Sirius went right past Harry and to Tonks who began to pet him. After a while, he walked back where he came, though to the path to Hogsmede instead. And to the Gryffindors' astonishment, Tonks waved to them then followed Sirius. The five didn't say anything for a while then,

"I'm hungry," Ron said.

"Ron, did you just miss what happened?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, Professor Tonks just went off with Sirius. She probably thought he was a stray." Ron said matter-of-factly.

"_Or,_" Hermione said, "Professor Tonks, an _Auror_, could know that Sirius, an alleged criminal, is an unregistered Animagi!"

"Yeah, but Dumbledore could testify for him, couldn't him? I mean, what's the big deal; he's an assumed criminal-murdery person, not an actual murderer." Chibiusa said.

"Yes, you know that, I know that," Harry said, "but if things went as it should, Pettigrew wasn't the Secret Keeper and he didn't tell Voldemort where my parents were-"

"Yes, you wouldn't have a scar and your parents would be alive, and the world, which revolves around Harry James Potter, would be perfect..." Chibiusa said in a sarcastic voice. "Oh, except for the slight escape from Youma in Japan, the slight hostilities in America, the nuclear arsenal issue worldwide...the world doesn't revolve around you even if one of the many forces of evil's eye is upon you!"

"I never said it did!" Harry said growing angry.

"No, you didn't say, it you implied it." Chibiusa said, growing herself angry in turn. "Voldemort did not hurt and kill just those close to you!"

"I didn't say that either!"

"Well then don't bring it up all the time!" Chibiusa said.

"I didn't! You asked me about Sirius!"

"But then you brought up Sirius and your parents! A simple, 'Oh, I don't know,' or 'Because Fudge has no mind,' would have worked!"

"If all you're talking about is playing favorites about what yours, you and Cosmos-" Harry would have gone on, if not for the familiar wind around him and the chill in his spine. His eyes grew blurry as he remembered the image of the voice that spoke.

~Please! no more! You have needless anger towards her when you should be going after what you are worried about!~

The feeling left as quickly as it came. His eyes unclouded. Chibiusa had gone, and Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were looking at him worriedly. He figured out why when he realized the freezing cold snow on his neck. He had somehow fallen in that one second into the snow. Ron and Hermione gave him their arms and helped him up.

"Chibiusa went and got Madame Pomfrey," Ginny said.

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Because you were out for like five minutes!" Ron said. "Your eyes went all hazy and you just fell back."

"I did?"

The remaining trio nodded in conformation.

"Wait - what about Sirius?!" Harry exclaimed.

"We forgot all about him, we were too worried about - oh, come on, let's go!" Hermione said.

_________________

I know this was short, but I had a reeeealy long project, plus the fact that I had to go on this long trip last week. I'll try to get the next one up tomorrow or the next day. Remember, more reviews, more pages, more updates. 


	21. another short chapter where they find a ...

Darkness and Light

Chapter 21

* * *

Madame Pomfrey came quickly, Chibiusa running ahead. When she saw he was conscious, she wrapped herself tightly around Harry.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" She cried. "I've just been under stress - Occlumency and all, looking in the library for any information about that lost Senshi or whatever!"

"I-It's okay, you didn't make me collapse." He said.

"Then what did?" Ginny asked.

"Were you feeling dizzy? You probably need to go inside and warm up, dear." Pomfrey said.

"It was...I...don't know."

Firstly, Harry didn't want anyone to know about Neco, for it seemed that Neco wanted it that no one knew of her. And secondly, was it Neco that made him collapse? It never had before.

"I-I'm fine. Really."

"Are you sure? You might be suffering from hypothermia." Pomfrey said.

"Really. I'm fine." Harry said firmly.

Madame Pomfrey nodded and left, though there was suspicion in her eyes.

"We need to find Professor Tonks and Sirius." Hermione said.

"But it's not a Hogsmede weekend...It's not even a weekend!" Ron said.

"Ron, Sirius is in danger, we have to make sure he's not caught!" Hermione said. She gave him a look, so close to a look she gave Harry last year. "Just trust me."

Ron nodded.

"Hold on a second," Harry said, raising his wand to the sky. "Accio Invisibility Cloak!" The cloak floated lazily into his arms, just as his broomstick did two years ago. They crouched inside the cloak and set off towards Hogsmede.

"We can take it off later in the path," Harry whispered as they passed by Fang, who lazily lifted his head as they passed. 

As soon as they had walked two minutes into the path they removed the cloak and made Harry carry it. The forest looked different now that they weren't in the protection of a charm-protected thestral-drawn carriage.

"Where do those paths lead?" Ginny asked, pointing at two identical paths going back in the direction they came from, then turning right or left until it disappeared behind the trees.

"I've never noticed them before." Hermione said. "But we can wonder about that later, we need to go."

They walked a bit more until they came out into the snowy Hogsmede.

"Oh crap!" Chibiusa cried softly. "Under the cloak!" She pulled them off the main road and into the grass, or where the grass would be, and pulled the cloak over in the process. Through the fabric, they could see the outline of Professor Snape walking towards them on the main path.

"What's he doing here?" Ron hissed. Someone who looked like Cosmos, and who they later found out was, ran up to him. The five heard murmurs and one yell of "absolutely not!" From Snape, but nothing else audible.

"Why?!" Cosmos cried.

"No!"

"But if you don't, you knowwww.... They'll be deaaaaad..." She said laying the stress on certain words.

"Then they shall die a noble death!"

"But I foresaw it. And so did you." Cosmos said lightly.

"I do not go by the time stream!"

"Time told me you would say that." Cosmos said. "But really...shame...I wonder what Dumbledore...no, Voldemort would say..." She made her voice cold and high. "You denied the opportunity to have Harry Potter in your house, to bring him to me?! Avada Kedav-"

"All right!" Snape yelled. "Just get the bloody hell away from me!"

"Okay. Prepare five rooms at the least." Cosmos said regaining her commanding tone. She walked back towards the city, Snape going into the path the five came from. They removed their cloak.

"What was that about?" Ginny asked.

"Chibiusa's grandfather is cheating on Queen Serenity for Cosmos..." Ron taunted. Random people stared at him.

"_Any_way..." Hermione said, "where would they be?"

"The Shrieking Shack, of course." Harry said.

"Then why not use the entrance Sirius came from?" Hermione asked.

"Cuz...Tonks was there and he didn't know she would follow him?" Ron asked.

"Well, how did they get in then?" Ginny asked.

"A hole in the wall!" Chibiusa said proudly. So they set off towards the old building. "Oooh... scary smoke effect."

"What?" Ron asked.

"The smoke," Chibiusa said, pointing at the building.

"I never noticed that there was smoke here before now." Ginny said.

"There wasn't," Harry said, thinking the worst. They climbed over the low wood fence and started searching around the perimeter.

"Here!" Hermione exclaimed after a minutes worth of searching. They walked over and crawled in one-by-one.

Dust was everywhere. The furniture looked, if possible, more broken than it did the last time they came in.

"Oooh..." Chibiusa said again. "Hey, what's this?" She picked up a old, yellowing piece of parchment. " 'Dear'...someone, it's a bit smudged...'it pains me'...all blurry, then...'I can't get over it'...er...'want to die as he died for me'...this is depressing, who wrote this? Oh, um...'Si'-something, then, 'and I know this sounds stupid, but ever since last Christmas, I've been confused about'....something and...it almost looks like Hermione, but that can't be right...'stupid redhead' ...'best friend',...'want to kill'... uh...'see you next week'....that's all I can make out."

"Maybe it's from the person who used to live here." Ginny said.

"I wonder who it was..." Chibiusa said.

"No one did. It was built when Remus went to school here." Harry said.

"Then why not simply tear it down?" Chibiusa asked.

"Save that question for later, come on."

They headed upstairs as it seemed the most obvious place. They opened the door and were shocked to see Sirius in his human form and Tonks unconscious, leaning against the wall.

"You wouldn't happen to have any food with you? I'm starved." Sirius said casually.

______

My insparation's kinda lost...um...see ya next time. Any ideas are welcomed. 


	22. Rum is good, Butterbeer is warm

Darkness and Light

AN: I am very sorry for those of you who thought that the story died, but my computer had a virus and I had to delete all my files...or something but it was all gone and I didn't have time to type because I needed to install stuff. So...again, sorry, and I'll try to make this one extra long.

The five went up the old stairs and opened the door to find Sirius sitting on the floor casually.

"You wouldn't happen to have any food with you? I'm starving."

"Er...no." Harry said. Sirius turned to Chibiusa.

"Who are you?"

"Chibiusa Tsukino," She answered, bowing out of habit.

"Where's..." Hermione started.

"Oh, her," Sirius said. "I got out of my transformation before I knew she was in here, so when I saw her I just used the expelliarmus charm." He motioned to a dark corner of the room where Tonks lay unconscious.

"We need to get out of here," Hermione said. "There's some odd fog surrounding the place, they'll suspect something."

"Would anyone really come into the Shrieking Shack?" Ron asked.

"Snape did." Ginny stated.

"He was bribed by Harry's dad." Hermione explained. "But we should be going; it's probably about time to go, anyway."

"You know, I didn't think you'd be so rule-conscious." Ron said. "I mean, after last Saturday..." He trailed off.

"What did you do last Saturday?" Harry asked. (M-Chan and Cassie: Ooooh!)

"I...We snuck into the restricted section to look for a book...and Ron thought that that book would be...very...restricted..." Hermione said. Of course, they weren't in the library. But she wanted to make her story believable.

"Yeah! (I love that song.) It was a book on...er...what was it, Hermione...It just slipped my mind, there!"

"Um....lovemaking!" Hermione said the first word that came to mind, although why it was the first word that came to mind was a mystery.

"Ron!" Ginny exclaimed. "You promised me you wouldn't do that until after you got out of school!"

"Um, can we just go?" Ron said.

"That's a lovely idea!" Hermione said and the two walked down the stairs, Ginny following them, lecturing Ron. Chibiusa walked down, after, laughing lightly, as she knew what the two were really up to. They might actually need that book sooner or later...

Harry walked out as well. Sirius got up from the floor and made some effort to brush off the dust on his clothes. He looked towards Tonks.

"Thanks." He said softly. "Guess your mum was wrong when she said you had no talent for theatre." He turned back into the dog and set off on his way.

Sirius walked them outside, and then the two set off on their separate paths.

"...And even though it's a legend, I still felt sorry for-"

Hermione stopped the two fifth year's conversations as she looked at her surroundings.

"We should have reached Hogwarts by now." She said. "Are you sure this was the right path?"

"Well..." Ron said.

"You got us lost?!" Ginny shrieked. "First you go look for some porn book and THEN you get us lost in freezing cold weather!"

"Well if you weren't distracting my thought-"

"What thought?!"

"All right!" Harry said. "We'll just go back the way we came..." They all turned around but the path was nowhere to be seen.

"This is just like Magic Knight Rayearth..." Chibiusa commented. "Where's Ferio?"

"We can just use the four-point spell, right?" Harry asked.

"Well...to find Hogwarts, yes, but to find the beginning of the path, no...If this is the correct spell...I mean you could just walk in the general direction of Hogwarts and you'd get there theoretically..." Hermione said. They made to go in that general way but the brunette stepped in front. "But when I say theoretically, I mean, if there weren't and human-eating plants, any giant spiders (Ron shivered) and other...creatures, then it would be fine, but if that protection spell was put on the whole path, it would include this, and we'd be safe as long as we're on the path."

"So, I guess we have no choice but to follow this path." Chibiusa said.

They all agreed to do the above and walked off as the sun set.

Harry hoped they would get back soon. Not for any fear, like Ron, or because he couldn't successfully conjure up food, like Ron. But because he wanted to see Neco and give her his gift.

The doors of Hogwarts swung open and snow swirled in. A lone hooded figure, clad in red, stood in the doorway. It was quite an overdramatic sight.

Cosmos stepped in and closed the grand doors, letting her cloak slide off and disappear into subspace. She walked into the Great Hall where the feast was starting. As many of the students had left, there was just one table filled to capacity with food of all sorts. She seated herself between Snape and Dumbledore and chose to fill hers, and everyone else's, goblets with rum.

"Professor Dumbledore, please forgive my unexcused absence, there was some business I had to take care of in the Cauldron. Now...let's get drunk!" She toasted.

And for a while, they...or everyone but Snape...did, and ate the lovely food ...and the lovely dessert...and everything was just so loverly when you're drinking rum....And they found out that Dennis Creevy liked Hermione....And Josh and Ryan both liked Zoe...and eggs are square...

Cosmos began acting out scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean with some of them who had seen it. In this time, Fawkes flew in to Dumbledore and gave a message, though this was hard as he was being scared by the redhead and the brunettes turning themselves into skeletons. ("Couldn't resist, mate!") Dumbledore set Fawkes off and stood up. He raised his wand and off went the rum. Many students screamed and a few fainted.

"Why is the rum gone?!" Cosmos exclaimed, mimicking Jack. Dumbledore ushered everyone out.

"Except," said the old wizard, "you two." He motioned to Cosmos and Snape.

"Whadido?" Cosmos slurred.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, Miss Tsukino, and both of the Weasleys are missing."

"Jack saw them in Hogsmede." Cosmos said addressing herself. (I call myself Jack a lot...) Dumbledore raised his wand again and Cosmos was drunk no more. She seemed to have realized what she had done and tried to regain her form. "Erm....Perhaps they have lost track of time."

"Possible, but I do believe that our young Miss Granger would have prevented that." The wise wizard said. "I was hoping that you two would make sure they're safe."

Snape looked like he'd rather be courting with Hermione. But just then, one of the drunken students came back in and gave Snape a hug. He decided to leave.

"All right!" He yelled to all of them, pulling out his wand and threatening said student. 'How many times must I surrender to that damn woman?'

Cosmos summoned her cloak back and they headed out into the night. Oooh, how romantic sounding. (Snape: It is not in any ways romantic!)

Dumbledore sincerely hoped that they would both come back alive. He also hoped that 'it' would not happen tonight. He walked away just before the door slammed shut. If he had not left, he would have seen Cosmos summon more rum.

&

"What time is it?"

"Seven-thirty."

"Are we there yet? Did you see them?"

"No."

"Now?"

"NO! Finite Minuos!" Cosmos was rid, yet again, of her intoxication.

"...Now?"

"........."

The two were in a carriage to Hogsmede, assuming that they would be there.

"I only do it because you're such an easy target." Cosmos explained. "And, you really shouldn't feel like you're the only one who feels like a Mercuian in an all-Martian school. I know many people who relate, and I believe you know one, also."

Snape ignored her.

"I'm serious, someone who only had but two or three friends, but was always cast away from them until you eventually realize 'What sort of friends are people who ignore you and spend more time with everyone else, and what sort of friends are people who act like you're not there, even though you're right in front of them.' Someone who was ignored and abused by his guardians. I know someone like that." Snape continued to ignore her, so she continued. "It's Harry."

The man glared at her.

"You find that I relate to Potter?"

"I do. Plus, both you and Harry have a lot of enemies."

"And how is it, exactly," He said, "that you know of my past?"

"Well, I could have just looked at the time stream, but I decided to be fair and look in your pensive." She answered.

"I don't have a pensive."

"Yes you do, Severus." The senshi said. "And from the way you looked at Lily, I think you owe it to her to be nice...r to Harry."

Snape glared again.

"It isn't my problem that he'd rather look at his face on a magazine then pay attention in class."

"Give him private lessons."

Snape, again, glared.

"Okay, I know the whole Occlumency thing didn't work out, but this time will be different."

FLASHBACK

Snape was teaching Occlumency when Harry and Hermione began questioning him about Death Eaters. He would've probably shot curses at them if not for Professor McGonagal coming down to ask for his assistance. Harry noticed Snape's pensive that he always put some of his thoughts in. He and Hermione looked inside, after confirming that the others had altogether given up being sent against the wall. They saw a memory of Snape getting teased by Sirius and Harry's father, and then Lily getting him out from the circle of students. And then Snape pulled the two out from his pensive. He looked so mad it was scary. And he spoke in a deadly whisper.

"Having fun?"

"N...no!" Hermione squeaked.

"Amusing man, your father, wasn't he?" Snape said.

"I-didn't-" Harry started.

Snape threw the two down and towered over them.

"You will not repeat what you saw to anybody!" Snape bellowed.

"No," Harry said, the two getting up and heading towards the door, yet not wanting to turn their back on him. "No, of course I w-"

"Get out, get out, I don't want to see you in this office ever again!"

END FLASHBACK

"Just give the boy private lessons and don't act like a Death Eater and don't say or do anything that would provoke a question." Cosmos said.

"I will not give him anything!" Snape said, his voice rising.

"YOU WILL GIVE HIM!" Cosmos said, standing up. She paused and then slowly sat down. "Private lessons."

"...Fine." He said sullenly.

"Good. And I'll buy you a huge lollypop and a white cloak." She said. And just to annoy him, she added, "Daddy."

Luckily, the carriage stopped at Hogsmede. The two split up to look for the lost group.

Back with Harry & Co.

"Babble, babble, bitch, bitch, rebel, rebel, party, party, sex, sex, sex, and don't forget the violence, blah, blah, blah, got yo-"

"STOP SINGING!" Ron yelled at Chibiusa. Hermione was looking up at the sky.

"I think it's almost eight." She said. Harry was getting nervous.

"Um, do you really think we shouldn't just risk it and go through the forest?" He asked.

"Hey, if Harry has faced you-know-who...like...four, five times...don't you think we can survive a few creatures?" Ginny spoke up.

"Maybe we'll see those...Centaurs or whatever." Ron said.

"We can't!" Hermione said. "First off, what if this big...thing pops up, none of knows how to kill it or ward it off and it kills us? Or what if you-know-who is out there?"

"My scar would have been hurting." Harry said.

"Has it always hurt when he's near?" Hermione asked. "If I recall correctly, when we had our lessons with Quirell it never hurt. And even though you had his book and saw him there, even if it was a memory, I believe your scar would have hurt a lot in your second year. An-"

"Okay, okay..."Harry said.

"But we do need to know where this path leads..." Hermione said. "Wait - Harry! Do you have the map?"

"Yeah!" He pulled it out and said the incantation.

"See if we're on the map - look on the edge...yes! There, we're right here!" Hermione said pointing at their dots. "It looks like...It goes right back to Hogsmede. And then we can go on the original path and we'll be back there a little before nine, I imagine."

"I love you Hermione!" Ron said hugging her. They pulled away quite quickly, after Hermione mumbled something to him. "C-come on, let's go."

They walked and walked and walked and ran when they thought they heard a werewolf howl. (That turned out to be Ron's stomach.)

"Hey Harry?" Chibiusa asked, bored of the lack of talking. "You know that present I found? That flat thing? What was it?"

Harry knew that Neco wished her existence to be known only by him. But he couldn't just say 'nothing'.

"It was...a picture Colin took." He said making up something believable.

"Oh..." She said. "What of?"

Did she have to ask so many questions?

"Um..."

"Thank you Merlin!" Ron cried. They had arrived in the village of Hogsmede. They ran down the cobblestone street in search of the path. "Wait!" The redhead called. He was some distance behind them. "It _is_ rally cold out and we need some energy...butterbeer, anyone?"

"We should be getting back; we could get in trouble!" Hermione said.

"You know you sound just like you did in our first year!" Ron said. "One final look at the past..."They all looked at Hermione. "And we're out!" They made off towards the Three Broomsticks, Hermione running behind. She caught up and drew her cloak around her.

"Well...it is cold out..."

"Hey, let's try fire whiskey!" Ron said. "Or maybe a martini...or that Three Broomsticks mix special!"

"Ron..." Hermione said. But it wasn't a warning tone, it was more soft, kind or how she used to talk to Harry. And Harry noticed this.

"I'm serious!"

They went inside and purchased butterbeers. They weren't allowed to buy whiskey anyway...

But they kind of lost track of time in the process of drinking and talking.

"...And the way Snape says your name..." Ron said to Harry. "Mister Potter...hah...just think about it...Potter...ha...ahaha...." Suddenly they all burst out laughing for no reason. It was all good.

"Mister Potter."

"Oh...Okay...stopstopstopstop..." Hermione said talking fast. Her cheeks were flushed. Maybe she was out in the cold a bit too long... "Eh...I can't stop laughing..."

"Um...I plead the fifth." Chibiusa said. Hermione looked up and saw a very disturbing sight. Snape.

"You know, Potter, some people actually thought you could have gotten attacked. Some thought you could have gotten hexed or died. But I thought you were just avoiding school. Yet Dumbledore sent me and herout here in freezing cold to find you here drinking Butterbeer." Snape said. He led them out to he carriage where Cosmos was waiting. They all got in there and set off for Hogwarts where Snape assigned them detention.

They weren't allowed to ask Cosmos where she had gone or to see if Professor Tonks had come back. They were sent off to their dorms.

"Um, you go on." Harry said. "I...need to tie my shoe." He ducked down and made a show of trying to tie already tied knot until the others disappeared around a corner. He sprung up and went behind a tapestry, up some stairs and through a mirror which wasn't really a mirror. He was now on the right side of the seventh floor where the door had been. He made his way as he fingered the case in his pocket. There was a slight problem. The door wasn't there. He tried to think, this was where it was! But then he remembered Neco walked back and forth a few times before he noticed the door. He did the same, thinking about giving Neco his gift as they sat together on the...Just then the door appeared and he rushed up these stairs until he got to yet another door which he pushed open and finally saw Neco, her hair up in a messy bun, dressed in a thin white dress that looked like it was intentionally torn at the end. But she was beautiful in Harry's eyes. Her skin shone in the moonlight. And she looked cold which gave her cheeks that rosy glow.

"Good evening Harry." She said. "I was worried you wouldn't come."

"I...we got caught up."

"How so?"

Harry told Neco the story of the snow and the letter and Sirius and getting lost and drinking butterbeer and getting found.

"Butterbeer..." Neco mused. "I wish I knew what that tasted like...sounds good. Do you think you can describe it?"

"Um..." Harry didn't know exactly how, but he had to try. "Well, imagine you're outside in a cold day and then someone hands you butterbeer, a-"

"Who?" Neco asked.

"Well, just someone, but it..."

"I mean, if some random person just hands it to you, how do you know it's not poisoned?"

"Um...well, just pretend I gave it to you." He said hoping that she would trust him to give her the imaginary drink. "Okay, so you have it and you take the first sip...and, um...it's like you're sitting on a couch by the fire...it kinda makes you a lot happier and it gives you energy...it's frothy...um...basically it just warms you up inside and out."

"Warm..." Neco said. "You know, I have to thank you, because without you, I wouldn't know what 'warm' really is."

"What do you mean?" He asked

"Well..." Her face turned a bit more redder than it was. "At the ball...up here...when we..." They looked into each other's eyes for a minute. Then they started talking for hours about everything. Eventually, Harry remembered what he was here for and took the small velvet case.

"I got this for you. Happy Christmas."

She opened it and pulled out the sapphire necklace. She gasped and many emotions passed through her eyes.

"I...it's..." She seemed to be lost for words so she went with hugging Harry tightly and saying "thank you" over and over again. "It's beautiful! And...I feel...I didn't get you anything!"

"No, you did get me something." He said. "You got me someone who I can confide my deepest secrets with, and someone who can give me advice when I need it. Someone who I can talk to all night."

"And a sunrise." Neco added, pointing at the pink and orange sun that decided to rise at that moment. "Harry...do you remember what I told you the other night we talked all night? I think it was when you were in the library.

"You...said 'aishiteru.' And...it means...'love' doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does, Harry. I...I love you."

Harry knew he had to say something. But what about Hermione? Then again, they haven't been doing much of anything lately. And he was suspicious that her and Ron were doing...something. And with Neco he felt at such ease...

"I love you, too."

After saying many more sweet words and making out and such, Neco told him to go to the dorm and go to sleep. Harry, still caught up in love, didn't bother to ask where she was going, which was probably for the better.

_Dream_

Fourteen people...no, eight people.

"Move!"

The wind behind him...a rock from the building hitting her...they wanted to all stay together but THEY split them up. Them...those creatures...or maybe not. Maybe they, like HER were forced or drawn in like a trap.

A familiar hand grabbing his...looking into her unusually white face - white with terror. Reassuring her. His friends, his reassurance, his salvation from that PLACE, dieing before his eyes. Looking into her shining brown hues...enveloping her...embracing her...dieing in her arms. And than waking up. Finding out it's all okay, that she's okay, that they can do it again. That he's not going to that place anymore. But why?

A figure appears in front of him. It's her. No, not the one he died with. It's...

"I did it because I love you."

_End Dream_

Harry bolted up. He had dreamt this exact same dream at the beginning of the year, but he had woken up before that other person had said she loved him. Now you, loyal reader, are probably thinking the person he died with was Hermione, but the person who said she loved him was Neco. Well, that's what Harry thought. The dream took place on the moon during the battle 1001 years ago that they had been in last year. The person he died with was indeed Hermione, but the other person was not Neco. Well, sort of not Neco. When Harry thought about that girl, three people came to mind: Neco, Cosmos, and Tonks. Harry assumed it was Neco and the other two were just there to confuse him. That's what dreams do to you. But...well, put simply, Harry was confused and he wanted to go back to sleep, but it was three in the afternoon and he was hungry.

Neco walked down the snowy grounds of Hogwarts. Her mind was fixed on Harry. He loved her! She didn't think he would...and on top of that a pretty necklace. She sat down between some trees and closed her eyes. A familiar feeling passed through her and she heard the trees around her move with wind. She reopened her eyes and saw everything a bit clearer than before. Some first year students (having a sort of snow war) ran past her. She watched as they all decided to pick up snow and attack one specific girl who fell down close to where she sat.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"Mm-Hmm." The girl said. "Thank you, Professor."

--------

MUAHAHA! I'm back and I have yet another cliffhanger! And my computer isn't dead! My Matrix game won't work but I finally remembered the plot to this! If you want my computer to stay happy and healthy, please review! There'll be free eggs if you do.


	23. The future is now

AN: Meep! I'm sorry! My computer died...literally, this time, not a bug like before. It was a 98, though, so it served me well into it's time of passing...unfortunately, it had to take all my files with it! I would growl in fury out loud, but I'm in the library. Oh, well... so anyway, extremely sorry about that.

Wow. My writing's really evolved since I started POH. And now that I reread it, it's really…bad. So I put it back on my computer and rewrote the first chapter. It's the same, just with better grammaticism and it's more…easier to read, if that makes sense. I'm going to put it up on the website for my account is on my profile page. So even if you don't want to reread it, maybe you could go look at my other art stuff.

So...here we go!

* * *

The Five point star( sans Draco) and Harry were serving detention the following night in Snape's class, all of them doing work, reading something incredibly boring, or plotting up Snape's death. 

But not Harry.

Harry had deliberately finished his work early so he could talk to Neco. He thought to her and expected to feel that usual windy feeling he usually felt when they had telepathic communication. But instead, he felt cold and dark inside. He didn't hear her voice.

_Neco_? He tried harder. _Neco_?

He tried time and time again, but still no answer.

'One last time...'

_NECO_!

Neco was running, her bare feet sinking into the snow, her face flushed. She turned around mid-step and got hit in the chest with an orange beam. She blacked out and fell backwards into the lake at the mercy of the giant squid. Harry could feel the water closing over her head, her breath leaving her body...

"Neco!"

Harry bolted up. He was in the hospital wing, in his usual bed. Ron and Hermione were beside him.

"Neco, we have to save her, she's-"

"Slow down, mate." Ron said. "Who's Neco?"

"Harry, you blacked out in Snape's class, you were probably having a bad dream." Hermione told him. "Besides, there's no one here named 'Neco.'"

At that moment, Professor Dumbledore came in.

"Professor, Neco, this girl, she's outside, in the lake! She's going to die if we can't get to her!"

Dumbledore nodded, not asking any questions or even looking a bit confused. But that was Dumbledore for you. Harry tried to get out of the bed, and with a bit of stiffness accomplished his task.

"You two," The older man said, turning to Hermione and Ron, "Should wait for Madame Pomfrey to return from the dungeons and tell her to get a bed ready. Harry, come with me."

The two hurried out, Harry grabbing his cloak and Dumbledore conjuring one for himself. The cold air hit them as they opened the double doors. Harry looked down and saw footprints...Neco's footprints. They walked quickly to the lake and Dumbledore performed a spell that Harry could not hear because he was too wrapped up in his thoughts. They waited a few minutes, and then Harry saw a dark shape getting bigger in the water, bigger and bigger until a body hovered in front of them.

"No! It was Neco!" Harry exclaimed. The body was not Neco's, but Cosmos'. "I swear that I saw Neco, not Cosmos!"

"Harry," Dumbledore said, conjuring a stretcher for Cosmos, "Would you mind telling me who Neco is?"

The two walked the path to the school as Harry quietly explained that he had first heard Neco in his head after Voldemort had appeared, and how she returned at the Christmas ball (though he left the part out about going to the roof) and how he knew it was her who fell in the lake but he couldn't (or rather didn't want to) explain why. When they had reached the castle, Harry dearly wished he had just said he had seen someone fall into the lake instead of Neco, for he didn't want to break the promise he just broke about telling anyone about her. Yes, he had left out a few of the personal parts, but he had said who she was and how he had gotten to know her.

* * *

_Neco_? 

No reply.

_Neco_!

Silence.

_Neco, I'm sorry! Please, tell me where you are!_

_I'm right here, Harry._

"Neco!"

Harry opened his eyes and saw an added sight to the Gryffindor dorm that had not been there when he closed his eyes. Neco was in front of him, not harmed at all.

"Where were you? I thought I saw... I was trying to talk to you, and I had this... this image in my head, like when I was doing Occlumency, and you fell into the lake, but when we-"

"I did, Harry. You aren't going mad; I've told you this before."

"But you weren't there...it was Cosmos..."

"Was it?" She asked. "We both have similar features, and I do remember falling into the lake."

Harry wondered if she was right, and then decided to hope in the affirmative as to protect his sanity.

"But who was the one who cast the spell?" Harry asked her after his wishful thinking was over. Neco looked down, then back up at him.

"His name is-"

"Harry!"

Hermione and Ron came up into the dorm. Harry had turned his head to the two out of shock, but when he turned to look back at Neco, she was gone. Thoughts of insanity came back.

"Are you all right?" The brunette asked. "You looked so worried when you were talking about that girl...and when you came back in you just ran away..."

"...I'm fine." He said. "Really."

"So, who was that girl you were talking about, mate?" Ron asked.

"No one you'd know..." He said.

* * *

Cosmos, not unusually, spoke nothing of the matter, not even a simple 'thanks for saving my life' to Harry. As for him, he hadn't spoken to Neco since then, but for the night following when he made sure she was okay, and how she could apparate inside the school. Life would continue on as usual. Hermione, Ginny, Draco, Chibiusa, and Cho were these warriors from the planets, all senshi-knights save for Hermione who had yet to find whoever's power she was supposed to take, Cosmos would have to go into the Cauldron to fix time-space and Tonks would come in and display her shape shifting abilities (she was something called a metamorpmagus), and Harry would continue to fail in Snape's class. All was normal, end of story. 

Yet, the story won't end because there are still many plot holes to be filled in with the cement of plot fillers.

So, guess what? I'm going to skip ahead!

It was April when we rejoin our people we love and hate. Although the end of year exams weren't as hard as the OWLs of the NEWTs, the sixth years felt like it was last year all over again. (Though I'm not sure I put the OWLs into full detail in POH, that's only because I really didn't understand them that much...) But anyway, no one dared tempt Hermione even though she no longer held the title of prefect.

"I don't like Snape." Chibiusa said quite plainly at lunch. "And he doesn't like me either."

"I don't understand why Dumbledore keeps him on." Ron said.

"It is a question that will never be answered in this universe because the author has no clue herself." Said a random girl walking past them

"Oh." Harry said. "That explains a lot of things."

"Like how I was prefect at the beginning of the story and just a paragraph ago I lost my title." Hermione said.

"Or why I couldn't find Ginny at the Christmas Ball." Ron added. A few seats down, Ginny choked on her soup.

"You know what else is weird?" Hermione asked. "At beginning of the year, there were all these demons and stuff attacking the school, attacking us...now they just kind of...disappeared."

Another mysterious girl walked past their table.

"The person who is in control of your destiny didn't understand things and has an annoying tendency to be lazy." She said before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Huh." Hermione said. "That's comforting."

"That scares me." Ron said with a genuine look of fright over his face.

Just then, Cosmos, with Draco and Cho behind her, approached the table.

"Come with us." She said. "There is something that needs to be discussed.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Chibiusa got up, but Cosmos made a motion and told them that she only wanted the girls. It was a Senshi-Knight thing. Of course.

* * *

"Harry is the sixth point." 

This statement was made by Snape to The Five-Point star in his unfeeling classroom of doom.

"What!" Ginny squeaked.

"Isn't the sixth supposed to be the 'most distant?' That's what the book said!" Hermione exclaimed.

"He is the 'most distant' when you think about it." Cosmos said. "Draco hates him, Cho has been uneasy around him ever since the whole Cedric thing, Ginny avoids him so he doesn't judge her, Chibiusa mainly likes to socialize with people her own age, and Hermione-"

"But," Hermione interrupted. Did Cosmos know about…it, she thought to herself. "It's impossible!"

"Is it?" The cherry-haired girl asked. "Hermione obviously has to draw her power from Harry -- yet she hasn't."

"Why does it have to be like that?" Ginny asked.

"Because they're lovers?" Chibiusa asked.

"Oh, no." Cosmos said. "And besides, how do we know that they still have the same love for each other that the y did last year?"

"But didn't we, the Five-Point Star of the future, I mean, change our…er, I mean, the present us…um, didn't they change our memories? And didn't Hermione and Chibiusa say when they were changing our memories that they would be 'together forever?'" The hopeless romantic that was Cho said.

Cosmos laughed solemnly.

"Chibiusa and Hermione of the future were not casting a spell, nor chanting a hex or reciting a curse…" She said. "They were simply making you, who had lost your memory of half of the school year; think that nothing out of the ordinary had happened until some of the damage was undone. I'm actually surprised you believed it for that long."

Hermione shifted uneasily.

"But that isn't the point." Cosmos said. "You all know the legend. Both Harry and Hermione will need to have power for the battle. And they both need it from each other. One of them is going to die."

There was a short silence, broken by Draco.

"What battle?" He asked. "Who is there to battle?"

"And why were those…monster things here at the beginning of the year?" Cho asked.

"I'd like to know that as well." Snape said. "And also to why you have called me here."

"…I'd like to answer Cho's question first." She said. "You know that before I came here, I guarded the Cauldron, a resting place for all souls who have perished in the Silver Realm. As you know, the Five-Point Star gains their true forms when they draw power from another, someone close to them, true? But would these people know that they were the ones? And do you think that they would just give away this power, let alone know how? No, it had to be given away willingly. And how could this be accomplished?"

"If they were in danger!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Yes." Cosmos said. "And that's why I had to revive some of the monsters of old. It took a while, but eventually, all but Hermione transformed into their true forms. I began wondering and then me and my dear-"

Snape raised his eyebrows.

"…Professor figured it out."

"And the battle?" Ginny asked. Cosmos sighed.

"You died." She said simply. "Last year, you went to the past to fight a battle and died. And then you were brought back here by yourselves. Queen Serenity thought that it was over when she gave her life to seal it all away. But Mettalia…just a fragment was left. And then she was killed by you. You of the future, I mean. And all was done."

"So you're saying…" Ginny said.

"The future is now." Cosmos said. "We must first go to the moon of present and unite the Five-Point Star for the first time. Then, we will get the sword in the stone and go to the moon of the past, kill Mettalia, retrieve your bodies, come back and alter a few minds, and then come back. Simple, save for the fact that one of us is going to die, Mettalia is quite a worthy opponent, and transferring bodies is quite a tedious process."

More silence.

"I leave you to think this over. Go ahead and tell Harry so he can have his emotional phase. Goodnight." And with that, they were ushered from the classroom, door shut behind him. And then Hermione broke down in tears.

* * *

"So why am I here, other than for your amusement?" Snape asked. 

"One, you are a great warrior. Your assistance is needed." Cosmos said.

"Yes, that's exactly what I want to do, go back to that place again and witness Serenity's death again." He said.

"…You still love her?" Cosmos asked.

"…No. She's just a memory. It was many years ago." He said walking to his desk. "You had another reason?"

"Yes. You know my little secret, correct?" Cosmos continued.

"Unfortunately."

"I have a message from her." She said. "A very confidential message."

"More of her complaints, I'm sure." He said.

"Oh, only one. And it's more of an apology."

Snape shuffled through papers.

"Would I tell you about it in this state if it weren't important? Her heart is beating fast, she is nervous. Please, let her speak." Cosmos said.

Snape stared for a moment and then nodded. Cosmos closed her eyes, and no more was seen of Severus Snape and Cosmos for the rest of the night and some of the morning.

* * *

That is all. Please review and..stuff. And sorry that I had to change how Neco and Harry communicate, but I couldn't put the little cokewave thing up. 


	24. Three souls united again

Okay. The second paragraph from the top in the last chapter got messed up. It was supposed to say that my Deviant Art page is on my user lookup thing and I'm going to start putting the updated POH there (But I'll probably put it here, as well). Also, on my user lookup thing, it messed up and there are two addresses. Although they look the same, click the second one. I don't know how to fix it. Meow.

* * *

Nymphadora Tonks was perhaps the happiest witch alive. But she knew it would go away. She wanted to be happy all the time. So she came to Cosmos. Which was a hard thing to do, not because she was a bit intimidated by her, but because the only place she could talk to her was in a vast empty white space. 

"You know my answer. I'm saving it for other purposes." Cosmos scolded.

"But…I'm happy! You're happy, too." She argued.

"You have the wrong information." She said. "I am not in love."

"You know what I mean!" Tonks said. "And think about it - it would be so awkward for them both!"

"If they are honest, then they will get around it." Cosmos said softly.

"But if you think about your relations with him, it would be even more awkward than you think." Tonks reminded her.

There was silence.

"I tried." Said a quiet voice. Neco appeared in the white space. "I - we both tried. Not too long ago. It's impossible."

"Not possible?" Tonks asked. "If I'm not mistaken, we've done the impossible before."

"We're doing it right now, in fact." Cosmos said. And they all smirked at each other.

* * *

Draco sat in the Slytherin common room. He sat for hours until he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Blaise Zabini.

"What are you doing up this late?" Draco asked.

"It's five A.M." Blaise said. "Have you been up all night?"

"Yup." He said. "Harry Potter is going to die."

"What'd he do this time?" He asked sitting down on the couch next to him.

"Nothing! It's just - he's going to die." He said.

"Draco, I hate to tell you, but we're all going to die eventually." Blaise said. Draco didn't respond. Getting up his nerve, he laid his head in the blonde's lap. "Happy yet?"

"Gah!" Draco exclaimed getting to his feet. He had a smile on his face though. This was not the first time Blaise had done this.

"I guess we can't be together forever, then." Blaise said jokingly.

"I have other plans for that, sorry." Draco said resuming his seat.

"Whatever happened to that girl you were with at the ball?"

"She needs to think." The blonde said simply.

"She has red hair, doesn't she?" Blaise asked. He knew Draco had a thing for girls with red hair. "You wouldn't let her think otherwise."

"Yes." Draco murmured. "Damn Weasly."

Blaise smiled.

* * *

"I only wish we didn't have to keep this from him." Neco said. "It hurts him that we can't see each other more often. It hurts us both."

Cosmos was silent.

"Cosmos, what are you-"

"Humain Accio." Cosmos said. Sirius Black was now at their feet.

"Hi!" Tonks exclaimed. Sirius looked around wildly.

"You weren't lying…you all…"

"Sirius Black, what were you doing before I summoned you?" Cosmos asked sharply.

"Well, after what Tonks told me, I wasn't sure about the thing with you three, but I was pretty sure that what she said about me was true, so I was just setting a few things in order." He answered truthfully.

"Mr. Black, attempting to steal items from Zonko's Joke Shop for items to give to your godson isn't exactly setting things in order." Cosmos scolded.

"And what did Tonks tell you?" Neco asked, her soft voice contrasting Cosmos' harsh tone.

"That this was never supposed to happen, and that the Five-Point Star was never supposed to unite so quickly. Somehow, time was altered." He said. "Cosmos said that as soon as the Five-Point Star kills Mettalia, the world will go back to what it should have been, and none of this will have seemed to happen. The Order of the Phoenix will become active again, the Department of Mysteries will have been broken into, and I'm going to be killed by my dear cousin Bellatrix."

"That's about right." Cosmos said.

"Oh…" Neco sighed. "You've been living on borrowed time this whole year, haven't you?"

"Yup."

"And I will take my praise any time now." said a fifth voice. Lord Voldemort himself had entered the group.

* * *

Ginerva Weasly ran. It's what she did when she was scared when she was at home and had overheard her parents saying that Charlie was in the hospital or Bill's city was attacked by Death Eaters. She would run through the forest behind their house until she reached the stone wall that separated their property from the next. She would then turn back and walk home, feeling as if the weight was lifted. She was indeed running through a forest now, but it wasn't the one behind their house. But she had to run. She had to get away, even for only a little while.

Ginny reached Hogsmede and smiled. It was beautiful at night. Lanterns glowed giving the place a golden warm feeling. There weren't any teenagers, just smaller children and their parents. And Snape. Ginny let out a gasp and hid behind a bush. He hadn't seen her, or if he did, he was ignoring her. He was leaning against the wall of Zonko's and seemed to be in deep thought. Then Professor McGonagall appeared and the two set off deeper into the small town. Ginny jumped out and went into the Three Broomsticks. If anyone asked, she was on vacation with her parents.

And then she thought. About what was to happen. About Draco and what she promised him. This went on until she saw Cho through the window. Making sure Snape was out of sight, she paid the waitress and ran out to meet her friend.

"Hi!" She said brightly, making sure the older girl didn't see how troubled she was.

"Oh, Ginny! I didn't see you there…"

"What are you doing here?"

"I should ask the same of you." Cho said. She continued walking forward into the small town. Ginny followed. "My sister lives here. Her name's Hatoko. She used to go to Yazawa - that's the magic school in Japan…I was supposed to go there, too - but then mom and dad moved here when I was nine and she started going here."

"Do you come out at night to see her a lot?" Ginny asked, sensing that the two were very close.

"Not usually…but…I need some advice. See, this is my last year at Hogwarts. And I'd like to teach here…Astronomy." Ginny nodded. Cho continued. "If something bad were to happen, though…I don't think I could come back."

"But we still have to make the world of the past and present safe." Ginny said. "I don't want to see Harry or Hermione die either."

They reached a small house

Come on in, I thought I saw Snape and McGonagall here earlier." Cho said, getting out a key and undoing the lock.

"Me too. What do you think they were doing, going on a date?" Ginny joked.

"That's practically cradle robbing, considering how old she is." She turned the knob and pushed open the door. "Ane-san?" She called.

"Cho-chan?" A male voice responded from down a dark hallway.

"You wait here; let me make sure they weren't in the middle of something." Cho said with a wink. With that, she left down the hallway.

And so, Ginny waited. Waited for possibly ten minutes or more.

"Anytime, Cho…" Ginny murmured. Just then, she heard footsteps from the hall. "So what's…" Ginny would have finished her sentence if not for the fact that she was taught that it was rude to continue on with your own happiness when someone close to you was in pain. And Cho most defiantly was - tears streamed down her face, her eyes a bit red. "What's…?"

"There was a raid." She balled her fists and swallowed. "Death Eaters. They came here. On brooms. They started attacking people at random. Only people. And my sister…an auror trainee…she…they killed her."

"Cho, I'm so sorry!" Ginny said, not having much experience at this sort of thing.

"That's not what hurts the most." Cho went on. "Yuki, Hatoko's boyfriend, tried to send me an owl, but he got it back with a letter from the MINISTRY OF MAGIC that they couldn't send ANY owls until a WEEK after the incident so no one would panic! And DUMBLEDORE didn't tell us because HE DIDN'T KNOW - FUDGE erased some people's memories, and didn't even tell the Daily Prophet some made-up story!" Cho cried harder. "And Cosmos…he didn't tell her because HE DIDN'T THINK SHE COULD HELP!"

"Cho…" Ginny said. She was getting scared. Cho's turned to her, wearing a scary, almost insane grin on her face. She laughed a little.

"Fudge was here when it happened. He got beat up pretty nicely. He's retiring in June."

"Well that's good." Ginny said.

"But before he does, we're going to give him our best show ever. Yes?"

"Of course." The redhead exclaimed.

"Let's go back now. Yuki said he wasn't going to cover for us."

* * *

"I guess I can't kill you like this, can I?" Sirius said. He had tried to attack the Dark Lord by hand, but had failed splendidly.

"Not unless you want your star to fail" Voldemort hissed.

"Well at least you're being more…docile today." Neco said quietly.

"And I will take my praise at any time." He said. "It's becoming quite hard to confine my…impulses. The Hogsmede incident could -not- have been avoided. Any more time and I might as well tell my Death Eaters to run free and do as they please." He smirked at Cosmos, who turned away.

"This is exactly what I mean…" Tonks said. "And if it becomes three ways like it is now-"

"It won't." Cosmos said.

"-It's going to be very awkward."

"I don't believe Harry would approve of it too much either." Neco spoke up.

"What's going to happen after you go back to the Cauldron, Cosmos?" Tonks asked.

"Or more importantly, why hasn't Voldemort done anything this year?" Neco asked.

"An agreement was made." Cosmos said simply, ignoring Tonks' question. "Either Harry or Hermione will die - no one can interfere with that. The survivor is the one who will have the final duel with Voldemort."

"And that's why you're waiting?" Neco asked.

"It wouldn't be fair if I was to interfere, would it?" Voldemort said. "No, I step in where the hero has fallen."

"How noble." Sirius said, aggravated that the man who killed Lily and James was right next to him and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Sirius…" Tonks started. She tried to lay a hand on her cousin's shoulder but found that her hand seemed to go right through him.

"We have to hurry." Cosmos said.

"Ah, could you…er…" Sirius mumbled. "Before I die…I wanted to see Hotaru again."

"I'd be happy to loan my body." Tonks said.

"It's getting really crowded, with all of us…" Neco said.

"But you're my-" Sirius started.  
"I'll shift to look just like her." Tonks promised. And she did just that. "Come on Cosmos, grant a dying man's wish, and, while you're at it, make it as awkward as possible!"

"Well if you'll excuse me," Voldemort said, mainly to Cosmos, "I am needed elsewhere." And with that, he vanished.

* * *

Harry and Hermione sat in the common room. It was devoid of people, save for them. The fire, usually bright and crackling, was unusually low.

"Harry…It's what we have to do. If we need to give ourselves, one life, for the millions of others-"

"I know." He said. "It's just I don't want to see you die-"

"I don't either-" Hermione said.

"Without telling you…" They had both said that.

"We…we haven't been very close this year." Harry said.

"Yes." Hermione agreed.

"And I…um…"

"I…er…"

"Wait…are we saying the same thing?" Hermione asked.

"If what you're saying is that you love me and you don't want to hurt me, but I'm not the right one, than…yes." Harry said. Hermione stared, then nodded.

"That night…me and Ron were looking at photos and blaming ourselves for things…and we just…" Hermione trailed off and blushed.

"That girl I was talking about, Neco, she came to me through my mind and we met at the ball…"

Silence. The fire died.

"Why didn't we tell each other?" Harry asked.

"We didn't want to hurt each other…and we hoped that we still loved each other." Hermione answered.

"I guess."

"So…it's all better now? No more awkward silences?" Hermione said with a slight smile on her face.

"Now we know the truth. Truth is usually a good thing." Harry said. "And I'm glad it's Ron and not someone like Draco!"

"Oh, don't even suggest it!" Hermione said. "But….this Neco girl…she came to you through your mind? Where is she from? How did she get into your mind - it takes really powerful magic, that's what Snape was-"

"She's er….she doesn't want me to know all about her…and I don't think she knows all of her past, either." Harry said.

"How do you know she's not a Death Eater!" Hermione cried. "You're so stupid!"

Harry laughed lightly.

"That's what you said last year, along with the fact you wanted to protect me."

Hermione laughed as well.

"Oh yeah."

There was more silence, despite what Hermione had said.

"So one of us is going to die." Harry said. "I don't know why, but I really hope it's me…I have a feeling I'll regret it if I don't die."

"Harry, when Voldemort comes back…"

"Voldemort needs to be killed by a spell. Powerful magic. And I can't fight him with my wand. You get to be the lucky killer then."

Hermione collapsed into Harry and they embraced, saying their goodbyes.

* * *

The spell was complete. Hotaru's soul was inside of Tonks' body. While she and Sirius had their moment, Neco and Cosmos walked deeper into the white void.

"She can't withstand the power, it will be Hermione." Neco said.

"But then again, Harry-" Cosmos started.

"Cosmos - what if there was a triple soul switch?"

"What!" She exclaimed.

"At the moment of transfer, wait until they absorb the power, and during the bounce back, switch their souls with, oh, say some villain's." Neco explained. "Their souls won't be able to take it. Then, we'll switch the souls back and -"

"If their soul isn't in the correct body, then the body won't be able to take it either. The forms shall perish." Cosmos interrupted.

"You can rebuild them. That's what Tonks and I have been saying this whole time."

"I can." The older woman agreed. "But note that my power is limited. In this lifetime, I believe I can only make a maximum of three perfect bodies."

"That's perfect. Neco said. "One for Harry, one for Hermione, and one for Tonks and myself."

"I'd like to save the last one for-" Cosmos started.

"Tonks and I will want to leave a lot. You have to keep watch over the Cauldron." Neco stated.

"I…will think about it. For now your plan seems fine. Tonks?"

The soul of Hotaru left Tonks' body. Cosmos sent Sirius back to where he was previously. The three girls stood close to each other.

"Let me be out, I need to guide the Senshi." Cosmos instructed. The three closed their eyes and a wind surrounded them, the spell Cosmos now chanted a familiar sound to their ears. And with that, they became one body again. The white space faded. Cosmos was in her rooms, the magic circle that was drawn at her feet was now faded.

"Let's go." Cosmos said to the other two girls inside of her.

* * *

Aha! Now it kinda makes sense! Or not…Blah...

Meh. Not many people replied. Then again, I did kinda leave this story for a year. ; I'll try to be quicker with my updates, really .

Again, R+R!


	25. A part of her life

Two updates in a week? Haha, I'm doing good!

Again, not surprised about the lack of reviews.

Anyway, about POH (yes, I know, wrong story ;) I've begun updating it and I'm going to replace chapters so stuff makes sense….I'll probably do the same here, but only with minor updates (as in taking out the mysterious appearance of Chiral and Achiral in chapter 5or was it seven? and then having them nowhere else…) But anyway, on with the story!

* * *

Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape, Chibiusa, Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Draco, Cho, and Cosmos sat in the Great Hall. They were waiting for the moon to be completely overhead of them. It would only take a few minutes, according to Cosmos. To the Senshi-Knights, however, it seemed like hours. 

"Um…" Chibiusa said. "Seeing as we all might not return from this, I have a confession to make."

"Me too." Ginny said. The other four spoke up reluctantly.

"Okay, Draco, what's yours?" The pink-haired girl asked.

"I'm bi." He announced proudly.

"What!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Ginny, it's perfectly all right…" Hermione started.

"No, it's just…" Ginny said. "Well, um, me and Draco have kinda been…sort of going out together…and…"

Chibiusa let out a soft laugh

"Does Ron know?" Harry asked.

"No! He'd kill me! Literally!" The redhead exclaimed.

"Your turn." Cho said to Chibiusa.

"Ah, okay. One day I got lost and I didn't know where the Transfiguration classroom or Hotaru or anything or anyone was, and I accidentally found a wine cellar and I've…kinda been back there once or twice…"

"The one in the dungeons or on the fifth floor?" Draco asked.

"There's two!" The odango exclaimed.

Harry looked over at Snape, who looked like he was trying his hardest not to listen. Or maybe he was lost in thought. If that was possible for Snape.

"Okay, me next!" Cho said. "Last year, I was having a really hard time in Transfiguration and Arithmacy and I thought it was going to kill me if I stayed any longer and I seriously considered just leaving and going to some muggle city to be a prostitute!"

"That would have been…interesting." Chibiusa said. "Now - Harry and Hermione - Confess!"

"Okay." Hermione said. They told each other and it wasn't like it was anything bad. "Me and Ron have been going out with each other for a while."

"And I've been going out with someone else, too." Harry said.

"How sweet." The pink haired girl joked. Harry couldn't help but laugh. He was sure Chibiusa had suggested sharing of each other's secrets to cheer them up.

And then his scar throbbed. Hard. He remembered the dream he had - that girl…

"I did it because I love you…"

He felt arms catch him to stop him from falling onto the hard floor. He looked up to see Cosmos' face but those were not her eyes…

"It's time to go." She said. The scar became dormant again. The six teens and Snape rose from their seats.

"Good luck." Dumbledore said.

"Join hands." Cosmos instructed. The eight did so. A light surrounded them. Cosmos winced. "I'm all right." She said to ease the looks on the worried faces. "Just had a glance into the future. One of us is going to die."

"Besides Harry or Hermione?" Ginny asked.

"Oh - not one of the Star." She said, glancing at Snape. "One of _us._"

"Do you know which one?" He asked.

"The one closest to the boy marked with lightning." She said.

Before Harry could realize the boy marked with lightning was him, they left.

* * *

They arrived minutes later, dizzy from the transfer. They were on the moon, in the center of the ruined prayer room. The sword was sticking out of the stone. Snape wandered off somewhere, and Cosmos instructed the six youths to get into another circle. 

"Mother Serenity," Cosmos began. As she recited the ancient spell, her wand appeared in hand. "A child born, a child anew, a child anew again. Thus gathered, the children anew have their gifts in tact. For an instance one, bring this gift to the point of no return. Ahoris paran unito activar mantran!"

Light shone. It was working.

Cosmos knew the moment was coming. Yet she didn't interfere. If they were to die, so be it.

Just then, she fell over. Neco was trying to break free.

"No!" Cosmos shouted. "Let it happen!"

The light died down except fir the one between Harry and Hermione.

Neco gasped as she took control. The body changed to match the soul. She picked up the wand Cosmos had dropped and ran towards them. She's take them into her own body, or rather, Cosmos'.

"Trias Alma Henasha!" She said jumping in between the two. Neco guided their souls inside of her. The mannequins that were once their bodies lay limp and broken.

"No!" Cosmos yelled inside of her head. "Your soul can't handle magic this strong!"

"Gener anais…" Neco said falling to her knees. The bodies were renewed. "Alma Expeliarmus…."The souls were now in their proper bodies. Neco fell face foreword into the ground.

"Neco!" Harry exclaimed. He ran over to her and sat her upright.

"But she was Cosmos…just a second ago!" Cho said.

"Why did you-" Harry started. There was a shake and then a large bang and Neco fell on top of Harry.

"I did it because I love you…"

She stared a t him for a second. Her eyes changed color, her hair got longer and her body grew longer and sharper. Cosmos got off of Harry and opened her hand. Small broken lights flew from her palm up into the air until they vanished into the darkness.

"We'll meet again, child of mine." Cosmos said. She looked back to the Star. Harry and Hermione were at their full forms. "Do not worry. I can always bring her back. And I will."

"But how did…" Cho started.

"When the third tremor occurs, we must leave. But there is time. There is someone you must meet, thought, to fully understand…" She stopped. She opened her hand again and another wisp of light, another soul, came forth from it and left. "Well there was someone you should have met, but it seems she has gone looking for Neco.

"Anyway, all departed souls, or Starseeds rather, must go to the Cauldron. And I am its guardian. One day, one stopped not to beg for life as so many of them do, but to simply say hello. I had met her before, many times in fact. I asked her how she had dies, and she said she was killed by one of the supporters of Voldemort while she was undercover at a place of sanctuary. It was then I remembered that she had a shape shifting ability of sorts. At the moment that was something I could use, so I took the soul of Nymphadora Tonks inside my body." Cosmos paused. No one spoke. The second tremor occurred. "A series of…events happened. After them, I was left feeling insecure…lonely…confused…And then a voice, not mine nor Tonks, spoke inside of me. It asked if it could be let go of. When I asked who it was, she said she was me. What I wanted if I were not chained to the duty of a senshi. I named her Neco. And I didn't need to control her in any way; she was a separate soul from mine, an individual.

"Then I was at Hogwarts. Neco and Tonks would watch from the inside as I guided you, the Five-Point Star. As long as they didn't converse with anyone within, it was fine. I would let them come out from time to time in Hogsmede." Behind Cosmos, Snape reappeared and easily took the sword from the stone. "But having little contact with other humans, Neco grew lonely. She told me this; several times in fact. Hogsmede wasn't enough. Somehow…she trained herself in Occlumency and-"

"Talked to me." Harry finished. "She said she was lonely and wanted to start over…and that I was just like her."

"Yes." Cosmos said. "And I didn't know about it until later. I thought it would be okay. It was only once. I didn't know she had done it again. And then the day before the winter ball, she asked to come back out. I said no, it was too dangerous. But when I woke up the next day, I was inside myself. She discovered how to make it so her soul controlled the body. I only tried to come back out once - before I realized that she was dancing with Harry. That was when she collapsed, by the way. But…I decided to let her continue watching. And…that's that part of my life."

The third tremor occurred.

"Now, let us go."

The spell was recited and the eight were gone from the moon of the present and were on their way to the moon of the past

* * *

**Short chapter, yes, but an update all the same. So do you think I'll finish before HPB? Let's hope so…XD**

Mae - Forget? Me? Nope….it was nagging me in the back of mind. I was just lazy.

I apparently get more reviews when I give out food. So: Everyone who reviews gets a FREE MUFFIN!


End file.
